The Forgotten
by phoenixwritesSPN
Summary: *This is the fifth installment of my SPN fanfiction series! Read the other four first if you haven't already! [Dean/OFC] *s5* (Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or the lyrics written in the chapters.)
1. Sympathy for the Devil

**Who's ready...?  
**

* * *

 _They say what they want  
I don't give a fuck  
I got pieces of my mind  
Brothers, leave us lost  
You know they searched the word over  
For the last man who was sober  
You've got to be someone  
To be something these days  
…_

 _Just kiss me, tell it to me over  
I'm not mad, just a little hungover  
You know you've got to get somewhere  
To be something _

_I can't save you  
Save you my goddamned self  
And what's left of me hated myself  
For it_

… _._

 _Radio one, two  
Where have we gone to?  
I hear the static in our ears  
So silent  
Radio one, two  
Wherever we want to  
Have I wasted my life?  
I haven't checked in a long time_

 _I'm not here for myself  
I'm here, love  
For you, dear  
Well, I guess the longest time  
Still don't mean forever  
But I can't save you  
Save you my goddamned self  
And what's left of me  
Won't just save myself_

 _Radio one, two  
Where have we gone to?  
I hear the static in our ears  
So silent  
Radio one, two  
Radio one, two  
Radio one, two  
Wherever we want to  
I guess _

_**Dead Sara – Radio One Two**_

* * *

"Come on!" I heard Dean shout from beside me.

For a moment, I didn't move, my feet not allowing me as the ringing got louder. Dean grabbed my arm tighter, pulling me harder than he ever has, jerking me away from the white light building in the middle of the room along with Sam over to the door where all three of us hit it with our shoulder repeatedly, trying desperately to open it as the air in the room grew thin.

I looked back over my shoulder, seeing that the light had reached the edges of the sigil. The boys stopped beside me, looking back at the light, shutting their eyes and covering their eyes while I just froze completely, save for my shaking hands and knees, and stared at the light as it enveloped the entire room, and everything in it.

* * *

"What the devil is your name?" A cartoonish voice echoed a few feet away from me. I blinked in shock as I took in my surroundings, seeing that I was sitting in between Sam and Dean on a plane.

A plane. In the sky. Flying.

No one reacted strangely to our sudden presence, acting as though we had been here the entire time and didn't just appear out of thin air. I looked down at my hands, holding them in front of me to see that I was still shaking from our encounter with...Lucifer.

Lucifer, the devil. Satan. I was in the same room as Satan.

"What the hell?" Dean mumbled in shock, breaking me out of my panic-induced thoughts.

"I don't know." Sam replied.

"Tor, you okay?"

"Uh...ye- yeah." I stumbled over my words, glancing over at Dean.

" _Folks, quick word from the flight deck."_ The pilot spoke through the intercom. " _We're just passing over Ilchester, then Ellicott City, on our initial descent into Baltimore-_ "

"Ilchester? Weren't we just there?" Dean asked.

" _So if you'd like to stretch your legs, now would be a good time to-_ _holy shit!_ "

Suddenly, a shock wave knocked the plane off kilter, sending people who had been preparing to get up flying out of their seats and onto the floor of the plane, everyone screaming around us. I gripped onto the arm rests as the oxygen masks dropped down in front of our faces, quickly putting it on along with the boys. Dean glanced out the window, his eyes wide with fear.

And as much as I would've liked to comfort him, I was scared shitless.

* * *

Miraculously, the pilot regained control of the plane, and we made a safe landing. As soon as the wheels hit, I was itching to get out of here and onto solid ground, so I could only imagine how Dean was feeling. We didn't say anything, ignoring people trying to make small talk as they loaded everyone off the airplane, making a b-line for the parking lot where we promptly hot-wired and car and got on the road.

Neither one of us had mentioned Lucifer, and I didn't see it happening anytime soon. Sure, I'd been around angels, demons, but never someone like that. Never the Prince of fucking Darkness himself. It shook me.

" _A_ _nd Governor O'Malley urged calm,_ _s_ _aying it's very unlikely an abandoned convent would be a target for terrorists, either foreign or homegrown._ " A man spoke on the radio.

"Change the station." Dean mumbled from the driver seat. Sam reached over, pressing the _seek_ button to change it.

" _Hurricane Kinley, unexpectedly slamming into the Galveston area-_ " A woman said, so Sam changed the station again.

" _A_ _nnounced a successful test of the North Korean nuclear-_ "

" _-a series of tremors-_ "

" _-_ _swine flu-_ "

Radio station after radio station had nothing but bad news to deliver, the end in full swing now. With a heavy breath, Sam shut it off, allowing a heavy silence to linger over us.

"Guys, look-"

"Don't say anything." Dean stopped his brother, barely glancing over. "It's okay. We just got to keep our heads down and hash this out, alright?"

I raised an eyebrow at him in the rear-view mirror, not saying what I really thought. _Hash this out_? The devil?

"Yeah, okay." Sam nodded.

"First things first, how did we end up on _Soul Plane_?"

"Angels maybe? I mean, you know, beaming us out of harm's way?"

"You getting anything, Tori?" Dean asked, glancing back at me.

"No." I shook my head. "No, nothing. The ringing was so loud before, I can't hear anything."

"Okay. We need to find Cas."

* * *

 **CHUCK'S HOUSE – DAY**

Pulling up in front of Chuck's house was another blow, as it was nearly completely devastated and demolished. Only a few rooms standing, the kitchen and living room being the few left that we were now searching through, trying to find any remnants of...anyone.

I noticed a portion of the stairs was still in tact and just as I walked by it, I saw someone jump out at the corner of my eye, swinging something at me. Already on edge, the attack scared me and I quickly grabbed the weapon, holding it down as I punched the person in the face. It was only when I heard a loud cry of pain that my eyes focused on who it was.

"Chuck?" I asked, my eyes widening as I saw blood trickle from his nose.

"Oh, my god, am I bleeding?" He asked, placing a finger to his nose.

"I'm so sorry!"

Chuck pulled his hand back, staring at the red liquid in shock. "I'm bleeding!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you." I muttered, realizing that I was holding what Chuck had went after me with, which happened to be a plunger. I grimaced at the object, throwing it to the ground. "I'm a little...frazzled."

"My girl's got a mean right hook." Dean said proudly, walking up behind me with Sam.

"So...you're okay?" Chuck asked Sam as he blotted his nose with part of his shirt.

"Well, my head hurts." Sam said.

"No, I mean- I mean, my- my last vision. You went, like, full-on Vader. Your body temperature was one-fifty. Your heart rate was two hundred. Your eyes were black."

"Your eyes went black?" I asked, looking up at him.

"I didn't know." Sam murmured.

"Where's Cas?" Dean asked.

"He's dead. Or gone. The archangel smote the crap out of him." Chuck replied, glancing over to me as my shoulders visible dropped. "I'm sorry."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"I'm sure. He, like, exploded. Like a water balloon of chunky soup."

Sam furrowed a brow at Chuck, waving a hand near his left ear. "You got a-"

"Uh...right here?" Chuck asked, reaching towards his right.

"No, the- the other side, Chuck."

"Oh. Oh, god." Chuck mumbled, his eyes going wide as he pulled a small white piece from his hair. "Is that a molar? It is. Do I have a molar in my hair? This has been a really stressful day."

"If Cas is dead, that means Jimmy is gone." I said, shaking my head in sadness.

Dean huffed. "Cas, you stupid bastard."

"Stupid?" Sam asked. "He was trying to help us."

"Yeah, exactly."

"It's our fault." I muttered. "It's our fault he's dead."

"How?" Sam asked.

"Because I guilt-ed him into helping us out. If it weren't for us, he'd be alive right now."

"Don't say that." Chuck told me.

"Why not? It's the truth."

"No, it's not." He insisted. I rolled my eyes at the prophet, turning away.

"So, what now?" Sam inquired.

"I don't know." Dean shrugged.

"Oh, crap." Chuck mumbled right as I hear a faint ringing coming back into my ears.

"What?"

"I can feel them."

"Tori?"

"They're coming." I nodded, quickly pulling out my knife, cutting my arm, smearing the blood on my hand.

"What are you doing?" Chuck asked.

"Insurance. I have no idea who is gonna pop in here, but I'm gonna send their asses away."

"Thought we'd find you here." Zachariah said from behind us, two angels flanking him. I quickly turned as Dean stood closer to me, hiding the sigil. "Playtime's over. Time to come with us."

"You just keep your distance, asshat." Dean spat.

"You're upset."

"Yeah. A little. You sons of bitches jump-started judgment day!"

"Maybe we let it happen. We didn't start anything. Right, Sammy?" He asked, glancing over at Sam, who looking down with guilty eyes as Zachariah looked back to Dean and I. "You had a change to stop him, and you couldn't. So let's not quibble over who started what. Let's just say it was all our faults and move on. 'Cause like it or not it's _Apocalypse Now_. And we're back on the same team again."

"Is that so?"

"You want to kill the devil. We want you to kill the devil. It's...synergy."

"And I'm just supposed to trust you?" Dean asked, shaking his head. "Cram it with walnuts, ugly."

"This isn't a game, son. Lucifer is powerful in ways that defy description." Zachariah said, looking to me for a moment. "You only felt a sliver of it. We need to strike now, hard and fast, before he finds his vessel."

"Lucifer needs a vessel?" I asked.

"He is an angel. Them's the rules. And when he touches down, we're talking Four Horsemen, red oceans, fiery skies – the greatest hits. You and Dean can stop him, Victoria, but you need our help."

"After what you did, I don't want anything to do with you!"

"You listen to me!" Zachariah shouted, that same look of worry crossing his features for a moment before he wiped it away, replacing it with a threatening look as he stepped forward. "You think you can rebel against us? As Lucifer did?"

"I'm not an angel." I said, gaining a strange look from him. "I don't obey you."

Zachariah opened his mouth to say something when he spotted the blood dripping from my arm, pausing momentarily. "You're bleeding."

"I am." I nodded as Dean moved aside and I slapped my bloody hand on the angel banishing sigil, sending them away in a bright light. "Assholes."

* * *

 **MOTEL – DAY**

While Sam was gone, Dean and I busied ourselves loading guns and cleaning and preparing weapons. I didn't know what we could possibly use them for in this situation, but it was good to keep my mind off of things. Since everything at St. Mary's, I hadn't felt right, growing nervousness in the pit of my stomach that I couldn't shake, even hours later.

"So, you felt Lucifer, huh?" Dean asked suddenly. "And he was-"

"Strong...I don't know." I muttered, glancing up. "Dean, you do know we're fucked, right?"

"What?"

"We're not getting out of this alive, no one is."

"When did you become such a downer?"

"Dean, this isn't a joke. This is the end, of everything. Whether we say yes to the angels and stop Lucifer or not, it's over."

"Don't say that. We'll figure something out, we always do."

"You don't really believe that, do you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Just as Dean looked up at me, the doubt and fear shining clear in his eyes, Sam entered the room, throwing us each a little hex bag. "Here. No way the angels will find us with those. Demons, either, for that matter."

"Where'd you get it?" Dean asked.

"I made it."

"How?"

"I learned it from Ruby." Sam muttered quietly.

"Speaking of, how are you doing? You jonesing for another hit of bitch blood or what?"

"It- it's weird. Tell you the truth, I'm fine. No shakes, no fever. It's like whoever put me on that plane cleaned me right up."

"Supernatural methadone."

"Yeah, I guess." Sam paused, looking between Dean and I before taking a deep breath. "Guys-"

"Sam. It's okay. You don't have to say anything."

"Well, that's good. Because what can I even say? _I'm sorry_? _I screwed up_? Doesn't really do it justice, you know? Look, there's nothing I can do or say that will ever make this right-"

"So why do you keep bringing it up?!" Dean exclaimed suddenly, letting out a heavy breath. "Look, all I'm saying is, why do we have to put this under a microscope? We made a mess. We clean it up. That's it.

"Yeah, that's it." I mumbled, pulling in a breath. Sam glanced over at me sadly, looking back down.

"Alright, so, say this is just any other hunt. What do we do first?"

"We'd figure out where the thing is." Sam replied.

"So we just got to find...the devil."  
…..

Not too long later, the sound of the TV droned in the background, two reporters discussing the multiple earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes all occurring at the same time around the globe. The answer? Carbon emissions. I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

A knock sounded from the door and since Dean was still cleaning one of his guns and Sam was reading John's journal, I got up and answered it, a hand on my gun just in case. Stand there was a short, mousy brunette with a rather creepy smile on her lips, breathing heavily.

"I think you have the wrong room." I said, about to shut the door when she place both hands on it, holding it open, surprisingly strong for her stature. I raised an eyebrow at her as her eyes drifted past me to Sam, who came by my side when she refused to let me shut the door.

"Sam, is it really you?"

"What?" Sam asked.

"You." The girl sighed, placing a hand on Sam's chest, practically knocking me over in the process. "And you're so firm."

"Uh, do I know you?"

"No. But I know you. You're Sam Winchester. And you're Victoria Anderson." The girl smiled at me before looking to Dean, who slowly moved his gun aside. "And you're...not what I pictured. I'm Becky."

"Okay, Becky." I nodded. "You need to leave-"

"I read all about you guys. And I've even written a few-" She giggled, pushing her way into the room. "Anyway, Mr. Edlund told me where you were."

"Chuck?" Dean asked, standing to his feet.

"He's got a message, but he's being watched. Angels." Becky said. "Nice change-up to the mythology, by the way. The demon stuff was getting kind of old."

I glanced over at Dean, sharing a confused look with him, shrugging my shoulders as Sam addressed her. "Right. Just, um...what's the message?"

"He had a vision. _The Michael sword is on earth. The angels lost it_."

"The Michael sword?" I asked. "Does he know where it is?"

"In a castle, on a hill made of forty-two dogs."

"Forty-two dogs?" Dean repeated incredulously.

"Are you sure you got that right?" Sam asked.

"It doesn't make sense, but that's what he said." Becky replied, stepping closer to Sam, touching his chest again. "I memorized every word. For you."

Sam glanced over at Dean and I before looking back down to Becky uncomfortably. "Becky, c- can you...quit touching me?"

"No."

"Yes, you can." I said, pulling her off of him. "Thanks for the info, I think it's time for you to do."

"But wait! I have a few things I want to ask you about."

"Sorry, another time." I smiled, gently pushing her towards the door.

"But- but- but I just-"

I raised an eyebrow, opening the door. "Like I said, another time. We're busy."

"Okay, but just one question, real quick? Please?" She asked, looking up at me with big eyes.

"What?" I snapped.

"What was it like to be possessed by a demon?"

With a huff, I pushed her out of the room. "It sucked ass."

"Wait!" She called, holding the door again.

"I will break your arm."

"Listen, I look up to you. You're such a strong woman, and I aspire to be like that. You, Dean and Sam make a great team. I love you. All of you." She smiled, a very obsessive look forming in her eyes.

"Thanks. Bye." I mumbled, shutting the door and locking it once and for all.

"See you!" Becky called, her voice muffled. I turned around to the boys, seeing them staring at the door with the same wide-eyed expression that I was wearing.

* * *

A few hours later, we'd called Bobby to come help us out and he was only a few minutes away. My stomach flopped as I got up to get a drink, but I ignored it, as that had been happening a lot the past few hours. My nerves were shot to hell, no pun intended, so I didn't think too much of it.

With the sound of a knock at the door, Dean opened it to reveal Bobby, who pulled him into a hug, slapping him on the back as they parted, looking over to Sam with a smile before hugging him as well.

"Good to see you kids all in one piece." Bobby smiled, placing a hand on my shoulder as he entered the room.

"You weren't followed, were you?" Dean asked.

"You mean by angels, demons, or your new superfan? No, I wasn't. So...sword of Michael, huh?"

"You think it's the actual sword from the actual archangel?" I asked.

"You better fuckin' hope so." Bobby said, placing a book on the table, opening it, pointing to a painting of Michael surrounded by other angels. "That's Michael. One of the toughest sons of a bitches they got."

"You kidding me? Tough?" Dean scoffed. "That guy looks like _Cate Blanchett_."

"Well, I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley, believe me. He commands the heavenly host. During the last big dust-up upstairs, he's one of the one's who booted Lucifer's ass to the basement. Did it with that sword."

" _One of_?" I asked. "Wasn't he the only one?"

"Lesser known version goes he had little help from another archangel. Camael. It ain't in the bible."

"Then how do people know?"

Bobby shrugged, glancing down at me. For a moment, I saw a flicker of something strange in his eyes. "They do."

"Huh."

"So if we can find Michael's sword-"

"We have a change of kicking the devil's ass all over again. So, where do we start?"

"Divvy up and start reading, try and make sense of Chuck's nonsense." Bobby said, sitting down next to me.

"Bobby, this is all my fault. I'm sorry."

"Sam." Dean mumbled, shaking his head.

"Lilith didn't break the final seal. Lilith was the final seal."

"Sam, stop." I interjected.

"I killed her, and I set Lucifer free."

"You what?" Bobby asked, appalled.

"You guys warned me about Ruby, the demon blood, but I didn't listen. I brought this on."

Bobby stood up, walking in front of Sam. "You're damn right you didn't listen. You were reckless and selfish and arrogant."

"I'm sorry."

"Oh, yeah? You're sorry you started Armageddon? This kind of thing don't get forgiven, boy. If, by some miracle, we pull this off...I want you to lose my number. You understand me?"

"Bobby." I called, shocked by his words.

"There's an old church nearby. Maybe I'll go read some of the lore books there." Sam mumbled, clearly hurt.

"Yeah. You do that." Bobby nodded, watching Sam go before turning back, looking at Dean. "I never would have guessed that your daddy was right."

"About what?" Dean asked.

"About your brother."

"What John said, you save Sam or kill him. Maybe-"

"Maybe what?"

"Maybe we shouldn't have tried so hard to save him."

"Why the hell would you say that?" I asked at the same time Dean muttered. _Bobby._ In disbelief.

"He ended the world, Vic. And neither one of us were strong enough to stop him proper. That's on us. I'm just saying, your dad was right."

"You know what? I think I need some air."

And with that, I got up, grabbing my jacket on my way outside.

* * *

The sun was setting, leaving red and purple streaks lining the sky. I stared up at it for a few moments, thinking about how all of that will just be gone in god knows how long.

"Victoria?"

I turned around, my eyes going wide as they landed on the blue-eyed man. "Cas?! You're alive?"

"I am."

"Were you ever dead?"

"Yes, I believe I was."

"How are you here then?" I asked, walking up to him.

"I'm not sure. But I think I know."

"Who?"

"The same one who took you our of the convent." Cas said, staring at me as I shrugged, not knowing. "God."

"God?"

"Yes."

"God."

"Yes."

I shook my head in disbelief, deciding I didn't want to argue with him at the moment. "I'm glad you're okay, Cas."

"...thank you."

"And you know, when I said this was worth dying for, I didn't mean right away, you idiot." I scolded, smacking his shoulder. Cas furrowed his brow, glancing down at my arm as I let it swing back to my side. "I'm sorry, I'm just- the past few days have been very stressful."

"I know."

"The world is ending."

"I know."

"We're all gonna die."

"Possibly."

"Great. I'm sorry we got you killed."

"It's alright."

"No. I shouldn't have- I shouldn't have said what I did about my mother, I know that bothers you-"

"You were right. She wouldn't want that. Your mother, she was very kind. She liked to protect people. She loved...people."

"So do you." I said, shooting him a small smile, seeing a tiny one tug at the corner of his lips. "Cas, Zachariah said that Dean and I can defeat Lucifer. What- what does that even mean? Do you know?"

"I do."

"Chuck said that he knew where Michael's sword was. Can we actually use that to kill Lucifer?"

"In a way, yes."

"Can you tell me?"

Cas pull in a deep breath, looking up into my eyes. "Dean is the Michael Sword."

"Excuse me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He is Michael's true vessel."

"He is?"

"Yes."

"Can Michael just possess him?"

"No. He needs him to say yes. All angels need permission."

"Dean won't say yes." I muttered, shaking my head. "He won't."

"You need to say yes as well."

"To who? Am I a vessel, too?"

"Not to _who_ , to _what_. You are a vessel to an extent. You are very special, Victoria. You have angelic bloodlines. There is no one like you in this world."

My breathing nearly stopped as I took everything in, swallowing hard. "What the hell does that even mean?"

"You are very valuable to angels and demons alike. God _and_ Lucifer."

"I'm valuable to Lucifer?"

"You could be."

"If I said yes, Lucifer could use me?"

"If you allowed him to."

"I don't understand, Cas." I mumbled as the ringing in my ears grew loud.

"Something's wrong." Cas muttered, looking around.

"What?"

"Did you hear that?"

"Ringing?"

"You didn't hear what was said?"

"No."

"Go."

"Where?"

"I'll follow in a moment." Cas said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

In the blink of an eye, I was in a dusty storage room, standing behind Zachariah and his two angel lackeys. Across the room, I saw Sam lying on the ground wheezing, Dean standing next to him, blood trickling down Dean's chin.

"What did you do to them!?" I shouted at Zachariah, taking my new found information from Cas into account as I approached the angels.

"Watch your tone with me." Zachariah said.

"No."

"I don't take orders from you."

"I won't say yes. Ever." I threatened, seeing his shocked look. "That's right, I know. And I won't say yes to you."

"I can make you."

"How?"

"Your friend Bobby, he's gravely injured." Zachariah said, taking me off guard.

"What?"

"Say yes, and we'll heal him. Say no, he'll never walk again."

I thought back to what Cas had said about Lucifer being able to use me if I said yes, so I thought about what Bobby would want and hardened my gaze. "No."

Without a word, Cas appeared, plunging a long, slender blade into the back of one of the angels, leaving Zacharaiah to stare at him blankly as he fought with the other, getting the upper-hand, stabbing him as well before walking over to my side, standing in front of Zachariah, who looked even more bewildered than before.

"How are you…"

"Alive? That's a good question. How did these three end up on that airplane? Another good question. 'Cause the angels didn't do it. I think we both know the answer, don't we?"

"No. That's not possible."

"It scares you. Well, it should. Now, put these boys back together and go. I won't ask twice." Zachariah vanished from view and Sam let in a big, loud gasp of a breath. I made my way over to him, helping him off the ground, pulling both boys into my arms.

"What were you talking about?" Dean asked me. "Why do you have to say yes?"

"I'll tell you later." I mumbled, looking up at him.

"You need to be more careful." Castiel said.

"Yeah, I'm starting to get that." Dean nodded. "Your frat brothers are bigger dicks than I thought."

"I don't mean the angels. Lucifer is circling his vessel. And once he takes it, those hex bags won't be enough to protect you." Cas said, placing a hand on my chest.

I let out a gasp, feeling a strange sensation fill me. "What was that?"

"An Enochian sigil. It'll hide you from every angel in creation, including Lucifer." He told me pointedly before doing the same to Sam and Dean.

"Did you just brand us with it?" Dean asked.

"No. I carved it into your ribs."

"Thank you, Cas." I said, seeing him nod once before disappearing from sight.

* * *

 **HOSPITAL – NIGHT**

Both boys had filled me in on what happened to Bobby on the way over to the hospital, tears sprang to my eyes as they spoke. He had been possessed, but fought the demon, regaining control, stabbing himself instead of Dean. That was why Bobby had been so cruel to Sam. I just couldn't imagine Bobby possessed, hurt, unconscious. He was too tough for that in my eyes.

And he continued to show his toughness by cursing out the doctor when they gave us the devastating news after we'd arrived.

" _Unlikely to walk again_?! Why, you snot-nosed son of a bitch! Wait till I get out of this bed!" Bobby shouted as the doctor turned and fled the room. "I'll use my game leg and kick your fuckin' ass! You better run!" Bobby huffed, glancing over at us. "You believe that yahoo?"

"Screw him. You'll be fine." Dean said.

"So, let me ask the million-dollar question. What do we do now?" Sam asked.

"Well, we save as many as we can for as long as we can, I guess. It's bad. Whoever wins, heaven or hell, we're boned." Bobby shrugged. I nodded, knowing this to be true.

"What if we win?" Dean asked, sounding like he had everything figured out.

"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm serious. I mean, screw the angels and the demons and their shit apocalypse. Hell, they want to fight a war, they can find their own planet. This one's ours, and I say they get the hell off it. We take 'em all on. We kill the devil. Hell, we even kill Michael if we have to. But we do it our own damn selves."

"And how are we supposed to do all this, genius?" Bobby asked.

"I got no idea. But what I do have is a GED and a give-'em-hell attitude, and I'll figure it out."

"You are nine kinds of crazy, boy."

"It's been said." Dean nodded, patting Bobby on the shoulder. "Listen, you stay on the mend. We'll see you in a bit."

As Dean headed for the door, Sam began to follow, stopping when Bobby called him. "Sam? I was awake. I know what I said back there. I just want you to know that- that _was_ the demon talking. I ain't cutting you out, boy. Not ever."

Sam sighed, looking relieved. "Thanks, Bobby."

"You're welcome. I deserve a damn medal for this, but...you're welcome."

"Do you need me to get you anything?" I asked, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Sure, why don't you rent _The Notebook_ and get me a pint of ice cream for me to cry into." Bobby grumbled sarcastically.

"I was just trying to be nice. I won't do that anymore." I folded my arms, feigning anger before smiling, leaning down to place a kiss on his cheek."We'll see you in the morning. Love you."

"Yeah, yeah." Bobby waved me off, but I caught the small smile that appeared on his lips before turning away, following the boys out into the hallway.

* * *

Outside, the night air seemed to be colder than normal and I wrapped my arms around myself as we made our way to the Impala a few spaces down in the parking lot.

"You know, I was thinking, maybe we could go after the Colt." Sam suggested.

"Why?" Dean asked. "What difference would that make?"

"Well, we could use it on Lucifer. I mean, you just said back there-"

"I just said a bunch of shit for Bobby's benefit." Dean stopped short, Sam and I stopping with him. "I mean, I'll fight. I'll fight till the last man, but let's at least be honest. You were right, Tor. We don't stand a snowball's chance." Dean shrugged, looking to his brother. "You know that."

"Dean, is there something you want to say to me?"

"I tried, Sammy. I mean, I really tried. But I just can't keep pretending that everything's alright. Because it's not. And it's never going to be. You chose a demon over your own family and look what happened."

"I would give anything – _anything_ – to take it all back."

"I know you would. And I know how sorry you are. I do. But, man...you let me down in ways that I can't even." Dean paused, struggling to find the words. "I'm just- I'm having a hard time forgiving and forgetting here. You know?"

"What can I do?" Sam asked.

"Honestly? Nothing. I just don't...I don't think that we can ever be what we were. You know? I just don't think I can trust you."

Sam looked up, shocked at the last thing Dean had said, watching with a sad look as Dean walked away to the driver side of the Impala.

I didn't want to be too hard on Sam, I knew the hard time he was going through when Ruby sunk her claws into him. Hell, I was going through it, too. But I'd be lying if I said there wasn't at least a part of me that didn't agree with Dean.

With a heavy breath, I glanced up at Sam, not saying anything before making my way to the back of the car.

* * *

 **So I posted this a lot faster than expected... ;) ;) ;)**

 **The cover photo is temporary as it isn't my best work. To be honest, I just threw something together because it's not as important to me as the writing and posting chapters is at the moment. It will be fixed in time for my own peace of mind lol**

 **Thank you for reading! I hope you liked this chapter, please let me know your thoughts!**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction **


	2. Good God, Y'all

_And when I close my eyes tonight  
To the symphonies of blinding light  
God bless us, everyone  
We're a broken people living under loaded gun  
Like memories in cold decay  
Transmissions echoing away  
Far from the world of you and I  
Where oceans bleed into the sky_

 _God save us, everyone  
Will we burn inside the fires of a thousand suns?  
For the sins of our hands  
The sins of our tongues  
The sins of our fathers  
The sins of our young  
.…._

 _Lift me up  
Let me go  
_… _._

 _God bless us everyone  
We're a broken people living under loaded gun  
And it can't be outfought  
It can't be outdone  
It can't be outmatched  
It can't be outrun_

 _ **Linkin Park – The Catalyst**_

* * *

Over the next few days we headed over to the hospital pretty early every morning to find Bobby in a wheelchair, still in his hospital gown, his baseball cap back in place on his head, sitting in front of and starting out the window. Sam tried talking to him, Dean tried talking to him, I tried talking to him, but he'd barely said more than two words at a time.

I didn't know exactly what happened over the past few days, but he must've realized the truth behind the doctors words. He wouldn't ever walk again.

Standing next to Sam in the doorway, I heard footsteps next to us, looking over to see Dean approaching with a manilla envelope in his hands. "It's been like three days now and he's barely said anything?"

"Yup." I nodded.

"We got to cheer him up somehow."

"How?"

"Guys, look, we might have to wrap our heads around the idea that Bobby might not just bounce back this time." Sam said. I sighed, nodding. I knew that, but I didn't want to let myself believe it. "What's in the envelope?"

"Went to radiology. Got some glamor shots." Dean told him, taking out the contents of the envelope, showing Sam and I an X-ray of his chest showing strange markings all over his ribs. "Let's just say the doctors are baffled."

"Holy shit." I breathed.

"Yeah, well, Cas carved some on you guys, too."

Just then my phone rang and I answered it. "Hello?"

" _Victoria?_ "

"Cas?"

"Speak of the devil." Dean mumbled.

" _Where are you_?"

"St. Martins Hospital. Why? Where are you?"

" _On my way_." Cas replied, hanging up.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cas approaching us and Dean turned to him. "Cell phone, Cas? Really? Since when do angels need to reach out and touch someone?"

"You're hidden from angels now. All angels. I won't be able to simply-"

"Enough foreplay." Bobby spoke, calling our attention to him as he looked back at Cas. "Get over here and lay your damn hands on. Get healing. Now."

"I can't." Cas replied.

Bobby turned around in his chair to fully face the angel. "Say again?"

"I'm cut off from heaven and much of heaven's power. Certain things I can do. Certain things I can't."

"You're telling me you lost your mojo just in time to get me stuck in this trap the rest of my life?"

"I'm sorry."

"Shove it up your ass." Bobby spat, turning back to the window.

"O...kay." I mumbled.

"At least he's talking now." Dean shrugged.

"I heard that." Bobby grumbled.

Cas turned away from Bobby, back to the three of us. "I don't have much time. We need to talk."

Dean nodded. "Okay."

"Your plan to kill Lucifer."

"Yeah. You want to help?"

"No. It's foolish. It can't be done." Cas said simply. I nodded, agreeing with him.

"Oh. Thanks for the support."

"But I believe I have the solution. There is someone else strong enough to take on Lucifer. Strong enough to stop the apocalypse."

"Who's that?" Sam asked.

"The one who began everything. God." Cas said, hope in his eyes. "I'm gonna find God."

"You're gonna find...God?" I asked.

"Yes. He isn't in heaven. He has to be somewhere."

"Try New Mexico. I hear he's on a tortilla." Dean commented.

"No, he's not on any flatbread." Cas said innocently.

"Listen, even if there is a God, he is either dead, and that's the generous theory, or he's up and kicking and doesn't give a rat's ass about any of us." Dean said, gaining a glare from the angel. "I mean, look around you, man. The world is in the toilet. We are literally at the end of days here, and he's off somewhere drinking booze out of a coconut."

"Enough. This is not a theological issue. It's strategic. With God's help, we can win."

"Cas, trying to find God is just as crazy as us trying to kill Lucifer." I said.

"I killed two angels this week. My brothers. I'm hunted. I rebelled. And I did it, all of it, for you, and you destroyed the world and I lost everything. So keep your opinions to yourself."

"Yeah...you're kind of right there." I nodded. I couldn't disagree with him. "Sorry/"

"You didn't drop in just to tear us a new hole." Bobby said. "What is it you want?"

"I did come for something." Cas nodded. "An amulet."

"An amulet? What kind?"

"Very rare. Very powerful. It burns hot in God's presence. It'll help me find him."

"A God EMF?" Sam asked, to which Cas nodded.

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about." Bobby grumbled. "I got nothing like that."

"I know. You don't." Cas said, looking to Dean, his gaze dropping to the amulet around his neck, the one Sam had given him years ago.

"What, this?" Dean asked, lifting the amulet.

"May I borrow it?"

"No."

"Dean. Give it to me."

Dean paused for a moment, realizing Cas was serious, thinking it over. He let out a sigh, taking off the amulet. "Alright, I guess. Don't lose it."

"I won't." Cas said, taking it from him.

"Great. Now I feel naked."

"I'll be in touch."

"When you find God, tell him to send legs!" Bobby shouted after Cas had already vanished.

* * *

Not too long after Cas had left, Bobby got a very bad sounding call from Rufus, who told him that the town he was in was infested with demons. The call got disconnected just after Bobby heard gunshots in the background. So now, Sam, Dean and I were in Riverpass, Colorado, trying to find Rufus.

The Impala drove up to a bridge, stopping at the beginning of it where it was broken off, only a path left that was big enough for a person to walk though, not for a car to make it over.

"This is the only road in or out." Dean announced.

Sam pulled out his cell phone, holding it up for a moment. "No signal."

"Rufus was right. Demons got this place locked down."

"Looks like we're hiking in."

"Great." I huffed, following Dean back to the trunk of the Impala, helping him pull out various weapons and items we would need to take on a town full of demons.

* * *

The entire town looked as though it was deserted as we made our way through, shotguns drawn and ready, each of us with a bag slung over our shoulder full of more ammo, salt and bottles of holy water. There was blue sedan overturned on the street, and we approached with caution, me keeping my gun trained on the car from about a foot away while the boys moved closer, their guns at the ready. I watched closely as they shook their heads.

No one was inside, so the three of us moving along down the road where a few houses were located, some sprinklers still on in the front lawns. A tan car sat a few feet away from us, the engine running and radio playing _Spirit in the Sky._

" _Prepare yourself. You know it's a must. Got to have a friend in Jesus. So you know that when you die-"_

Once we determined no one was inside, Sam reached in, shutting the engine off. Silence fell over us as the song cut off. It was eerie out here, but I wasn't getting any horrible feelings that I thought would come along with a demon infested town. Though, I hadn't really been back to normal as far as my _demon sense_ or _angel radio_ was concerned since Lucifer.

We passed a red, classic Mustang, the car gleaming in the dimly lit daylight. Sam passed by it quickly when he realized it was empty, but Dean paused behind me, admiring it for a moment. Down the way a bit was a silver car one of the doors open and a baby's stroller covered in blood in front of it.

After we passed the car, I heard a gun cock behind me, turning around with my gun up at the same time Dean had, surprised at who I saw there, lowering our guns. "Ellen?"

"Hey, kids." Ellen muttered, lowering her gun as she walked closer.

"Ellen, what the heck's going on here?" Dean asked. Suddenly, Ellen splashed him in the face with holy water, raising her gun at him. Dean stood there, his face dripping. "We're us."

"Good. Come with me." Ellen nodded.

The three of us exchanged a look as Ellen walked past, leading us to a church. Inside there was a large devil's trap drawn on the floor, candles lit everywhere. We moved over the devil's trap with easy, something that visible calmed Ellen.

"Real glad to see you kids." She smiled, pulling Dean in for a hug before pulling back, slapping him. "The can of whoopass I ought to open on you!"

"Hey!" I exclaimed, stepping in between her and Dean. "Don't hit him."

"Want me to hit you?" Ellen asked raising an eyebrow.

"I don't want you to hit anybody."

"The hell's wrong with you kids? You can't pick up a phone? What are you, allergic to giving me peace of mind? I got to find out that you're alive from Rufus?"

"Sorry, Ellen." Dean mumbled, looking reprimanded.

"Yeah, you better be. You better put me on speed dial, kid."

"Yes, ma'am."

"I'm glad to see you're still doing a good job sticking up for your family." Ellen said to me, nodding. "Good girl."

"Thanks." I replied as she turned leading us further inside the church, down a flight of stairs. "What's going on here, exactly?"

"More than I can handle alone."

"How many demons are there?" Sam asked.

"Pretty much the whole town, minus the dead people and these guys." Ellen said, stopping at the shut double doors, turning back to face us. "So, this is it, right? End times?"

"Seems like it."

Ellen nodded, turning back to knock on the door. "It's me."

Someone on the inside opened a peephole, making sure it was sure before opening the door. Behind the man was an older man and woman, and young couple, the man with an arm around the very pregnant woman, a couple other men and another young woman. Including Ellen, a total of ten people.

"This is Sam, Dean and Tori. They're hunters. Here to help." Ellen announced.

"You guys hip to this whole demon thing?" The man who opened the door asked.

"Yeah." Dean nodded. "Are you?"

"My wife's eyes turned black." A man with thick framed glasses said. "She came at me with a brick. Kind of makes you embrace the paranormal."

"Alright, catch us up." Dean told Ellen.

"I doubt I know much more than you." She said. "Rufus called. Said he was in town investigating omens. All of a sudden, the whole town was possessed. Me and Jo were nearby-"

"You were hunting with Jo?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, for a while now. We got here, and the place...well, the place was like you see it. Couldn't find Rufus, then me and Jo got separated. I was out looking when I found you."

"Don't worry, Ellen. We'll find her."

"Either way, these people cannot just sit here."

"We got to get them out now." Sam said.

"No, it's not that easy. I've been trying. We already made a run for it once."

"What happened?"

"There used to be twenty of us."

The three of us shared a look as Dean nodded. "Well, there's four of _us_ now-"

"You don't know what it's like out there. Demons are everywhere. We won't be able to cover everybody."

"What if we get everyone guns?" Sam suggested.

"What, are you gonna arm up baby bump over here?" Dean asked incredulous, gesturing to the very nervous pregnant woman.

"More salt we can fire at once, more demons we can keep away."

"There's a sporting goods store we passed on Main on the way in. I bet they got guns."

"Alright. You stay. We'll go." Sam told Ellen.

"What about-"

"If Jo and Rufus are out there, we'll bring them back. I promise." I said.

"Okay. Stay safe."

"We will."

The man opened the door for us again, shutting it once we exited the large room. We'd barely gotten towards the steps when Dean tapped Sam's arm. "Whoa, whoa. Hold on. Why don't I just go?"

"Alone?" I asked.

"Well, yeah. Somebody's got to stay here and start giving them _Shotgun 101_."

"Yeah, Ellen." Sam said obviously, moving to go up the steps.

Dean stopped him again. "No, it's gonna go a lot faster if you two stay and help, okay?"

"While you go get guns _and_ salt _and_ look for Jo and Rufus? That's stupid."

"I can handle it."

"You don't want me going out there."

"I didn't say that."

"Around demons."

"I didn't say that."

"And you don't trust me enough to stay here with them alone, so you're gonna make Tori stay, too."

"I didn't say that."

"Fine then, let's go." Sam said, turning back up the stairs. I glanced over at Dean, seeing a nervous look on his face. I did share some of his fears, Sam was addicted, I didn't want him to be tempted.

"Come on." I said, tugging on Dean's arm, following Sam up the steps.

* * *

"I'll get the salt. You get the guns." Sam said once we got outside.

"We'll go together." Dean insisted.

"Dean, it's right there. I can throw a few containers of salt in the bag, you need someone to help you get a bunch of guns. Can we at least do this like professionals?"

Dean glanced over at me and I nodded, moving in the direction of the sporting goods store while Sam headed the other way to the small store. I glanced back, seeing that Dean was behind me, the both of us making our way down the street.

"Sam will be fine, Dean." I said.

"How do you know that? Can you honestly say you trust him anymore?"

"Part of me still does." I admitted, gaining a raised eyebrow from Dean. "He's still Sam."

"I guess."

"What do you mean, you _guess_? Dean, I know Sam shouldn't have let Ruby get a hold of him like he did, but he was- he was a mess without you. Killing Lilith was the only thing on his mind and he would've done anything to make that happen. Then Ruby just got him addicted." I said, the same amount of disdain and disgust in my voice that I always used when speaking about _her_.

"Let's just get what we need to and head back." Dean said, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with me.

We reached the sporting goods store, not encountering any demons on the way there, once inside or on the way back, our bags now full with ammo and guns. Not seeing Sam anywhere in front of the church, we headed across the street to the store he had gone into.

"Sammy?" Dean called out. My eyes widened as we rounded the corner of an aisle, seeing two dead bodies lying on the ground and Sam holding Ruby knife that was now covered in blood.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah." Sam nodded, throwing one more container of salt into the bag he was carrying before making his way over to us.

* * *

 **CHURCH – DAY**

Once back in the church, the boys, Ellen and I started a crash course on how to work a gun. Ellen stood beside Rodger, who was fumbling, dropping the shells. Sam taught one of the other men to load a shotgun, while I sat between the young man and his pregnant girlfriend, teaching them something similar. A few chairs down, Dean was sitting with the doorman, who I now knew was Austin.

"You know your way around a gun at all?" Dean asked, watching as Austin quickly disassembled the gun. "Where'd you serve?"

"Fallujah. Two tours. Got back a little over a year ago. Takes one to know one. Where'd you serve?"

"Hell."

Austin snorted. "No, seriously."

"Seriously. Hell."

"No."

"Seriously." I interjected, nodding at him when he glanced over at me, a shocked look crossing his face. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Sam was now sitting by himself in the corner and hopped down off the table, making my way over to him "Hey."

"Hey." Sam replied, looking dejected.

"Are you okay?"

"It's just...at the store. Those demons were possessing teenagers. I mean, I had to slit some kid's throat." I nodded, understanding his pain. "It's okay, Sam. I mean...you did what you had to do."

To say that my views on using the knife had changed drastically over the past months was an understatement. I wanted to say every possession victim, but I understood that now, at this point, it simply couldn't be done.

"I know. I just...it used to be like..."

"What?"

"I just wish I could save people like I used to."

" _Used to_? Like using your...powers... _used to_?"

"No, I- I didn't say that." Sam muttered, shaking his head.

"I'll be back." Ellen announced.

"Where are you going?" Dean asked.

"I can't sit here on my ass. My daughter's out there somewhere. I'm not back in half an hour, go. Get these people out of here."

"No, wait." Sam called, standing. "I'll go with you."

"Whoa, hold on." Dean said, looking to his brother. "Can I talk to you for a second?" Sam nodded, following Dean out of the room. I quickly told Ellen to just wait one second and followed the boys. "You're gonna go out there again?"

"Well, shit doesn't hit the fan with coffee breaks." Sam shrugged.

"I'll go."

"It's fine. Just stay here, get 'em ready. I'll cover Ellen."

"Why's it got to be you?"

"Oh, that's right, I forgot. You think I'll take one look at a demon and suddenly fall off the wagon, as if, after everything, I haven't learned my lesson."

"Well, have you?" Dean asked.

Suddenly, Sam slammed Dean into the wall, looking angry. "If you actually think I-"

"Hey, okay, that's enough!" I called, shoving them away from each other. "That's enough. I'll go with Sam and Ellen."

Dean shook his head. "But-"

"That is what's going to happen. The end."

* * *

 **STREET – DAY**

Back outside, the sun was setting slowly as we walked down the street in our search for Jo. I hated to admit it, but I almost missed that little blonde pain in the ass.

"So where'd you see her last?" Sam asked.

"Up ahead." Ellen replied, glancing up at Sam. "So what's up with you and Dean?"

"What?"

"It was hard not to notice how different things are between you guys these days, all three of you. Lot of bad road there, huh? What happened?"

"Just- stresses of the job. You know how it is."

"I'm kind of surprised you have been hunting with Jo." I interjected, changing the subject, something Ellen definitely noticed, but didn't mention. "Weren't you always saying she couldn't handle the life?"

"She can't." Ellen said. "But if she's gonna do it anyway-"

"You want to keep an eye on her."

"Hey." Sam called, pointing across the street where smoke was rising above a house. "Look."

"Is that a chimney going?" Ellen asked.

"Looks like it. Come on."

We hid behind another house, watching the one with the smoke coming from it's chimney, peering around the corner to see a black-eyed man standing inside.

"Guess we found base camp." Ellen muttered.

"Demons don't get cold. Makes you wonder what their burning."

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ellen get grabbed from behind. Sam quickly spun around, slamming the butt of his gun into another demon that approached us while another demon grabbed me, pinning me to the wall.

"Don't move, you evil skank!" I heard a familiar voice, looking over to see Jo holding Ellen to the wall.

"Don't you hurt her." Ellen said through gritted teeth. "Don't you-"

"Give me my mom back, you black-eyed bitch!" Jo shouted. Ellen shoved her off, slamming her in the head with the butt of her own gun.I headbutted the demon holding me to the wall, but he quickly regained his footing, holding a knife to my throat.

"Ellen, run!" Sam called, cocking his shotgun, getting hit from behind by Rufus, whose eyes were also black.

"Got you now, you bastards." Rufus spat before the man holding me slammed my head hard into the wall and everything went black.

* * *

My eyes fluttered open to the feeling of a warm room around me, and I looked down to see that I was tied to a chair. Over my shoulder, I saw Sam waking slowly, tied down similarly the back of his chair against mine.

"Sam? Sam, you okay?"

"Uh, yeah." Sam nodded.

"Okay, good." I nodded. Just then, Rufus and Jo walked in, their eyes black as they walked up to us. Jo had a large jug of water in her hands, Rufus grinned, nodding to the ropes.

"No way you're getting out of those. Did you up myself. You're stuck right where I want you, you evil sons of bitches."

Rufus backhanded Sam as Jo splashed water on the both of us, looking down at me. "Get out of my friend, you fucking bitch!"

"I am your friend, you idiot!" I shouted, flinching when she poured more water on me.

"Exorcisamus te, exorcisamus te, omnis satanica-" Rufus began an exorcism.

"Stop!" Sam shouted.

"-omnis immundum-"

"Please!"

Rufus forced Sam's head back at the same time Jo pried my mouth open. I watched as they both held up full containers of salt, my eyes going wide. "No, no, wait!"

Without warning, the both of them pouring salt down our throats. I choked on it, spitting grains out once she'd stopped pouring.

* * *

 **CHURCH – DAY  
** DPOV

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He layeth me down in green pastures, and he raiseth me up again. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil." The pastor read from a bible in his hands. I nearly rolled my eyes, not wanting to hear that right now.

All I could think about was Sam out there with Tori and Ellen, and what could possibly happen. If Sam couldn't control himself, he could get them killed. The sound of someone pounding on the door got my attention and I opened the peephole, my heart sinking when I saw that Ellen was alone.

I opened the door, immediately questioning her as she entered. "Where are Tori and Sam?"

Ellen just shook her head, taking a bottle of water from one of the women. The pregnant woman's eyes widened. "They took them? Demons took them? Oh my god. What if they're in here? The demons?"

"Could they get in?" The pastor asked.

"No." I replied, picking up a shotgun, heading for the door. "Everybody sit tight, I got to go."

Behind me, I heard the pregnant woman let out a small whimper, letting my hand drop from the doorknob. I wanted to go find Tori and Sam, but I couldn't leave Ellen and these people in danger.

If we made a plan, we could go in a group and get them back safely.

At least that's what I was telling myself.

* * *

 **HOUSE – DAY  
** TPOV

After nothing happened, they finally stopped with the salt. I breathed heavily, still coughing up salt, spitting it onto the floor. Jo moved to pick up the jug of holy water again, allowing me to see out the window where Rodger was standing, turning the ring on his right hand. I furrowed my brow, trying to watch him as Jo stepped back in front, throwing water on me.

"Something's not right! Don't you see that?" Sam asked as Jo splashed more water on him.

"Nothing is happening!" I shouted. "You have to stop and listen!"

"Why isn't it working?" Jo asked.

"I don't know." Rufus replied. "But he's not as strong as he thinks he is."

"Look, listen to us, something's not right!" Sam exclaimed. "You can see that. Please, just listen to us."

* * *

 **CHURCH – DAY  
** DPOV

"Dean, one of them's in Jo. We got to get it out without hurting her." Ellen said after explaining the situation to me.

At least I knew that at this point, both Sam and Tori were alive. They were just taken. But if anyone could fight their way out, it's them and that gave me comfort.

"It called me a bitch." She added.

"Bruise a little easy, don't you think?" I asked.

"No, that's not what I meant. It called me a _black-eyed bitch_. What kind of demons are these? Holy water and salt roll right off. My daughter may be an idiot, but she's not stupid. She wears an anti-possession charm. It's all kind of weird, right?"

I nodded. "The whole thing's off."

"What's your instinct?"

"My instinct? My instinct is to call Bobby and ask for help. Or Tori. Or Sam."

"Well, tough. All you got's me, and all I got's you. So let's figure it out."

"Alright. Do you know why Rufus came to town? Was there a specific omen?"

"He said something about water. That's all I know."

"Padré, you know what she's talking about, the water?" I asked the pastor.

"The river ran polluted all of a sudden."

"When?"

"Last Wednesday." Austin said. "And the demon thing started up the next day."

"Anything else? Anything."

"Maybe, but it's pretty random."

"Random's good."

"Shooting star. Does that count?" Austin asked. "Real big. Same night. Wednesday."

"That definitely counts." I nodded, knowing what that meant. I pulled the bible that was lying in the middle of the table in front of me, searching through it, knowing that if Tori were here she could probably just quote the damn thing.

"So, uh, you think that all this comes from outer space?"

"This isn't _X-Files_ , pal." I said, finding the passage I was thinking of, reading it aloud. " _And there fell a great star from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell upon the river, and the name of the star was Wormwood. And many men died._ "

"Revelation eight ten." The pastor nodded. "Are you saying that this is about the apocalypse?"

"You could say. And these specific omens, they're prelude to what?"

"The Four Horsemen."

"And which one rides the red horse?" I asked. Tori would know.

"War."

"That cherry Mustang parked on Main..."

"You can't think that a car-"

"It's the way I'd roll. I mean, think about it. It all makes sense. If War is a dude and he's here, maybe he's messing with our heads."

Ellen nodded in agreement. "Turning us on each other."

"You said Jo called you a black-eyed bitch." I said, turning to Ellen. "They think we're demons, we think they're demons. What if there are no demons at all and we're all just killing each other?"

"Wait, just back up. It's the apocalypse?" The pastor asked.

"Sorry, Padré."

* * *

 **HOUSE – DAY  
** TPOV

After trying the salt, holy water and exorcism regimen one more time, having it fail again, Jo and Rufus left to try and figure out another strategy, leaving Sam and I all alone in the room.

"Tori?" Sam called.

"Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

"I'm never eating anything with salt ever again." I complained.

"Me either." Sam sighed. Just then Rodger entered the room, taking off his glasses, cleaning them with his shirt. "Who the hell are you?"

" _What_ are you?" I asked, getting a horrible feeling from him. One that was intense now that it was just us in here.

"You caught me." Rodger laughed. "Popped in to watch. I can hustle like that."

"So, the Roger everyone around here knows, the real Roger?" Sam asked.

"Buried in a ditch."

"So who are you?"

"Here's a hint. I was in Germany. Then in Germany. Then in the Middle East. I was in Darfur when my beeper went off. I'm waiting to hook up with my siblings. I've got three. We're going to have so much fun together."

"War." I muttered, watching him nod. One of the four horsemen were already here? "There aren't any demons in town, are there?"

"Nope. Just frightened people ripping each other's throats out. I really haven't had to do too much. Take out a bridge here, lay in a little hallucination there, sit back, pop some corn, watch the show. Frankly, you're really vicious little animals."

"No." Sam shook his head. "You're doing this."

"Please." He scoffed. "Last week, this was _Mayberry_. Now these people are stabbing each other's children."

"Cause you made them see demons!"

"Honestly, people don't need a reason to kill each other. I mean, you seen the Irish? They're all Irish. You think I'm a monster. I'm jello shots at a party. I just remove inhibitions."

"I'm gonna kill you myself." Sam threatened.

He laughed. "Oh, that's adorable, considering you're my poster boy."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You can't stop thinking about it, ever since you saw it dripping off the blade of that knife." He said, I looked over my shoulder, alarmed by that, seeing Sam breathing heavily.

"You're wrong."

"Save your protests for your family. I can see inside your head. And man, it is one-track city in there. Blood, blood, blood. Lust for power. Same as always. You want to be strong again. But not just strong. Stronger than everybody. Good intentions, quick slide to hell, buddy boy. You feel bad now? Wait till you're thigh deep in warm corpses. Because, my friend, I'm just getting started." War said, sending a chill down my spine. He put his glasses back into place, smiling. "Showtime for the meatsuits. Watch this."

War twisted his ring and blood began to flow down his forehead, dropping to the floor dramatically before letting out a loud scream. Hearing the noise, Rufus and Jo rushed back in, seeing the man on the floor, pointing to us.

"They did it!"

"No!" Sam shook his head.

"They said they're coming! They said they're coming to get us!"

"No, stop! Jo, Rufus, he's lying! No!"

"You shut your mouth!" Rufus spat, backhanding Sam.

"Jo, please. He's lying." I said, looking up into her eyes. She watched me for a moment before shaking her head, beginning to pour salt on me again.

* * *

 **CHURCH = DAY  
** DPOV

"So now you're saying that there are no demons and war is a guy." Austin said.

"You believed crazy before." I shrugged. Just then, a loud rap was heard on the door followed by a frantic voice.

"Open up! It's Roger!" The voice called. Austin went over, looking out the peephole before letting Roger enter. "I saw them, the demons. They know we're trying to leave. They said they're gonna pick us off one by one."

"Wait, what?" I asked, standing up.

"I thought you said there were no demons." Austin said to me.

"There's not. Where did you go?" I asked Roger.

"I thought someone should go out and see what's going on!"

"Where did you see the demons and what did they say exactly?"

Austin shook his head. "We just sit here, we're going to be dead."

"No, we're not!"

"They're gonna kill us unless we kill them first." Roger said.

"Hold on-"

"No, man, we got people to protect." Austin said, handing a shotgun to one of the younger guys. "The able-bodied go hunt some demons."

"Whoa. Slow your roll. This is not a demon thing."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Roger twist the ring on his right finger before pointing to Ellen and myself. "Look at their eyes! They're demons!"

My eyes widened as the pastor raised his shotgun at us and I quickly grabbed Ellen, pushing her in front of me as we rushed out of the room. Someone fired off after us, narrowly missing me and hitting the door instead, sending splinters flying everywhere.

* * *

Once outside, Ellen led us to the house where Jo and Rufus were. As I scanned the windows, I saw that one of the windows had a wire rigged onto it. I didn't trust that one bit.

After we came up with a quick plan, I steadied myself, using the large branch I'd found to open the window a few inches before diving to the ground as the bomb went off, blowing the glass out. I waited quietly for one of them to walk over, and when Rufus did, I grabbed him, pulling him out of the window. Rufus fought back, but I eventually pinned him against the wall.

"Listen to me. I'm not a demon. Think, Rufus. All those omens." I said.

"You got to hell."

"Rufus, the polluted water, the shooting star, the red Mustang. It's War. I'm telling you, it's War."

"You're damn right it is." Rufus nodded, punching me in the face, going for the gun he'd dropped.

I quickly tackled him before he got to it. "The Horseman!"

"Horseman?"

"Yes. He's turning us against each other. You're hallucinating."

"The horseman." Rufus nodded, staring up at me with wide eyes. "War."

"Yes."

"Did you figure this out all by yourself, genius?"

"Yeah, actually I did." I huffed, helping him to his feet.

We turned and made our way inside, where Jo stood behind Ellen, who leveled her shotgun at us. "We all on the same page?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

"Hi, Jo." I smiled at the blonde, who smiled back.

"Hey."

"Okay, we got to find War before everybody in this town kills each-" Suddenly, gunshots rang through the house and we all hit the floor, avoiding the bullets. "Damn it! Where's Tori and Sam?"

"Upstairs." Rufus replied.

"Take this." Ellen said, handing Jo a shotgun.

"Okay." Jo nodded as Ellen and I both moved in different directions.

* * *

TPOV

The sound of bullets hitting the house echoed upstairs and I felt my heart sink, worried for the people I cared about. Sam and I began to struggle in our restraints even more, hoping by some miracle to get free. Just then the door creaked open and Dean stepped inside. I immediately felt relief fill my chest at seeing him here.

"Tori." Dean called, making his way to me, looking me over. "Are you guys okay."

"We're fine." I nodded as he cut us both loose.

"Dean, it's not demons." Sam said.

"It's War, I know. I just can't figure out how he's doing it."

"The ring." I said, thinking back to him touching it right before the blood trickled from his head.

"The ring, that's right. He turned it right before he made everybody hallucinate and go hellbitch."

"Right."

"We got to move. Come on."

The three of us made our way, finding Jo taking cover behind the staircase. She looked at me, her brown eyes apologetic. "Hey, I'm sorry-"

"For drowning me with holy water and choking me with salt?" I asked.

"No. For that outfit you're wearing."

I glanced down at my usual jeans, dark blue t-shirt and tan jacket, ramming her hard in the shoulder with my own. "You're a bitch."

"You too."

"I'm glad you're not really possessed."

"Same here. Where are you guys going?"

"We're gonna stop War." I said, looking over to see the shocked look on her face.

"Well, if anyone can do it, it's you guys." Jo shrugged, handing me a shotgun. "Here. Stay safe."

"You, too."

* * *

Dean, Sam and I rushed through the streets as fast as we possibly could, heading towards the red Mustang. Once we got there, we hid on the other side of the car, waiting. It didn't take long before War approached, looking around before deciding it was safe to get in.

Just as he was about to open the door, Dean and I grabbed him and Sam pulled out Ruby's knife, holding it to him.

"Whoa." War laughed. "Okay. That's a sweet little knife. But come on. You can't kill war, kiddos."

"Oh, we know." Dean said, slamming his right hand down so Sam could cut his fingers off.

War screamed as he did this, but once his ring clattered to the ground, the body fell to the ground before disappearing along with the Mustang.

* * *

 **MOUNTAIN REST AREA – DAY**

Once we made sure everyone left standing got out of the small town alright, Ellen made us promised that we'd call her and Jo before letting us get into the car and leave. She literally held us at gunpoint, not that I was surprised.

After about an hour of driving, we stopped of at a rest area, the three of us sitting at a picnic table, looking out over the mountains.

Dean let out a breath, holding War's ring up. "So, pit stop at Mount Doom?"

Sam sighed. "Guys-"

"Sam, let's not."

"No, listen. This is important. I know you don't trust me. Just, now I realize something. I don't trust me either." Sam admitted. "From the minute I saw that blood, the only thought in my head- and I tell myself it's for the right reasons, my intentions are good, and it- it feels true, you know? But I think, underneath, I just miss the feeling. I know how messed up that sounds, which means I know how messed up I am."

I shook my head. "Sam-"

"No. See, the thing is, the problem's not the demon blood, not really. I mean, I- what I did, I can't blame the blood or Ruby or...anything. The problem's me. How far I'll go. There's something in me that scares the hell out of me. In the last couple of days, I caught another glimpse..."

"So what are you saying?" Dean asked.

"I'm in no shape to be hunting. I need to step back, 'cause I'm dangerous. Maybe it's best we just...go our separate ways."

"What?" I asked.

Dean considered what he'd said. "I think you're right."

"I was expecting a fight." Sam said, just as surprised as I was.

"Nope."

"No, we- we can't leave each other. Not now, not that the world is ending." I argued.

"I think it's for the best." Sam muttered. "I'm too dangerous."

"Sam-"

"I'm sorry."

I nodded sadly. "...I know."

Dean looked up at his brother as he stood. "Hey, do you wanna take the Impala?"

"It's okay." Sam replied, beginning to walk away. "Take care of yourself, guys."

"Yeah, you too, Sammy."

As Sam moved over to the Impala to get his backpack, I hopped off the picnic table, making my way over to him. "Sam?"

"Yeah?" He asked, turning to face me.

"Just-"

"Tori, you heard what War said."

"And that was true?"

"Part of it." Sam nodded, not meeting my eyes.

"Then I understand why you feel like you have to go. But please, if you ever need anything- I still love you." I said, tears forming in my eyes. "I still love you, okay? You can always call me."

"I love you, too." Sam smiled, the look on his face telling me this was more of a goodbye than I was ready to except.

With that, Sam turned away, not giving me the chance to hug him like I really wanted. I felt Dean step up behind me, the both of us watching as Sam walked over to a truck, saying something to the driver before getting in the passenger seat. The truck drove away, and I watched until it disappeared from view and Sam was gone.

* * *

 **Two chapters down! The next couple are really big and I haven't completely written them yet, so I'm sorry if it takes a couple days before I post them. But still be on the lookout, they're coming!**

 **Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it, let me know what you thought in a review or private message! :)**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction**


	3. Free to Be You and Me

_I'm feeling the way that I'm feeling myself  
Fuck everyone else  
Gotta remember that nobody's better than anyone else  
Here  
(Do you need some time to think it over?)  
Look what they do to you, look what they do to me  
You must be joking if you think that either one is free  
Here _

_Get up off your knees, girl  
Stand face to face with your God  
And find out what you are_

… _.._

 _I'm ready for love and I'm ready for war  
But I'm ready for more  
I know that nobody's ever been this fucking ready before  
(Do you need sometime to think it over)  
So figure it out or don't figure it out  
I figured it out  
The bigger the river, the bigger the drought_

 _Get up off your knees, boy  
Stand face to face with your God  
And find out what you are_

… _._

 _Fire world, I love you  
Fire world _

_I'm up off my knees  
I'm face to face with myself  
And I know who I am  
(Hello, my name is human)  
I stole the power from the sun  
I am more than just man  
I came down from the stars  
Hello, my name is human  
And I know who I am _

_**Highly Suspect – My Name is Human**_

* * *

Something woke me up, telling me to look behind me. When I did, I felt my heart stop and my breath catch in my throat.

"Hey, baby." Jessica murmured, smiling at me, her long blonde hair cascading down her back. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. "I missed you."

"I'm dreaming." I mumbled.

"Or you're not. What's the difference? I'm here."

Tears filled my eyes as I watched her. "I miss you so much."

"I know." She nodded, taking my hand. "I miss you too. What are you doing, Sam?"

"What do you mean?"

"Running away. Haven't we been down this road before?"

"No. It's different now."

"Really?"

"Last time I wanted to be normal. This time I know I'm a freak."

"Which is all a big ball of semantics. You know that. Even at Stanford you knew. You knew there was something dark inside of you. Deep down, maybe, but you knew. Maybe that's what got me killed." She said, her voice still soft, but her words harsh.

I looked up, startled by this. "No."

"I was dead from the moment we said _hello_."

"...no."

"Don't you get it? You can't run from yourself. Why are you running now?"

"Why are you here, Jess?"

"Would you believe I'm actually trying to protect you?"

"From what?"

"You. Sooner or later the past is going to catch up to you like it always does. You know what happens then? People die. Baby, the people closest to you die."

"Don't worry" I muttered, looking down. "Because I won't make that mistake again."

"Same song, different verse. Things are never gonna change with you. Ever."

And when I looked up, she was gone.

* * *

TPOV

The time spent away from Sam seemed to be doing some good for Dean surprisingly, something I wasn't expecting. He and I went on hunts and he acted like there was nothing wrong with any of this. I, on the other hand, couldn't seem to get the sickening feeling out of the pit of my stomach that something bad was going to happen. Especially over the past few days.

My nightmares had stared back up again, but they were different this time. All I heard was voices. One, in particular. Though when I woke up I could never remember exactly what the voice had said or what it really even sounded like, but thinking about it seemed to be enough to send a chill down my spine.

With those thoughts in my head, I felt myself swallow hard, staring out of the window at nothing. It was almost like a film was clouding over my eyes as I zoned out.

Suddenly, I felt someone shake me, blinking a few times as I glanced over, seeing Dean sitting beside me in the driver seat of the Impala, a hand on my shoulder and a concerned look in his eyes. "You okay, Tor?"

"Oh, uh, yeah." I nodded, trying to shrug it off, noticing that we were in the parking lot of a motel.

When did we get here?

"This have anything to with your new nightmares?" Dean asked as I looked down to my vampire blood that was soaking through the front of my once light gray t-shirt, making it stick to my chest underneath, remembering the hunt we'd just finished.

"...maybe."

"What happened?"

"Maybe we should call Sam." I blurted out, that nagging feeling filling me.

Dean let out a small sigh, shaking his head. "Sam wanted to go Tori. He left-

"And we shouldn't have let him go, Dean." I huffed. We'd had this argument more times than I can count.

"He said he needed time away from hunting, what were we supposed to do? Stop hunting and stay with him?"

"Yeah." I replied, stepping out of the car and into the windy night air.

Dean followed as I headed to the trunk, pulling out my bag. "You- you're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm not."

I turned and headed to the door with the key, hearing Dean trudging up behind me. "Tori, we- we couldn't do that-"

"Why not? You're so worried about him _falling off the wagon_ I would think you'd want to be there to stop him."

"He made his decisions. He screwed up, now we're supposed to help him clean up his mess?"

"Yes! That's what we do!" I exclaimed, rolling my eyes at him as I opened the door, making my way into the room. "It's our mess, too, Dean."

"How? I don't remember getting hooked on demon blood."

"I think you're forgetting the part where I made a deal that essentially sent you to hell where you broke the first seal." I said, dropping my bag on the table. Dean looked blankly at me for a moment in silence, knowing I was right.

But maybe Dean was right, too, to an extent. Maybe I needed to give Sam space. If he wasn't calling...maybe he just didn't want to talk to us anymore. Maybe he was really done with hunting. I could understand that. Though with everything going on...I just wanted us to be together.

And now, just like all the other times, I felt guilty for the fight Dean and I had. "I don't want to fight, Dean."

"Me either." Dean muttered, taking a tentative step closer to me.

"I'm just worried, Dean. The world is ending and when it does, I don't want us to be apart." I murmured, tears of stress filling my eyes. "Because no matter how hard we try, we're not gonna win this one."

Dean pulled me to him, smoothing my hair down. "Don't- don't say that."

"I appreciate you trying to be positive, but it's doing jack-shit for me right now."

"Sorry." Dean sighed, pulling back slightly to look at me, forcing a grin on his face. "Hey, why don't we go take a nice hot shower?"

"I know sex is your answer to everything, but it's your answer to the apocalypse? Really?" I asked with a chuckle.

"Who said anything about sex?"

"Dean, we're going to be completely naked and wet, what do you think will happen?"

"Alright, come on." Dean said, gently pushing me towards the bathroom. Once inside, Dean turned the water on. While his back turned, I pulled my clothes off watching his eyes go wide as he turned back around, a smirk on his face. "Well, hello there."

Dean watched me closely as I nearly reached up to kiss him before moving past him to step under the hot stream of water. In a matter of seconds, I heard a slight bang, peeking through the shower curtain to see that Dean had probably almost fallen over in an attempt to get his pants off and was now leaning against the wall, throwing them to the floor in disgust.

I rolled, a smile spreading across my lips as I moved back, scrubbing the blood off of me. "You okay out there?"

"Yup." Dean breathe, pushing the shower curtain aside as he stumbled in behind me, trying to lean casually against the wall. "Hey."

"Smooth." I murmured, holding back my chuckle as I turned to face him. Dean smiled, bending down to kiss me when I placed a hand on his chest, pushing him back. "Hey, whoa, whoa."

"What?"

"I think that maybe you're right."

"Probably am." Dean shrugged. "...what about?"

"We don't have to have sex. I think we should take this time to...clear our heads. Reflect. We can always have sex later." I said with a straight face.

Dean narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out if I was joking or not for a moment. "What?"

"Hey, it was your idea."

"Yeah, okay, but-"

"But, what?" I asked, turning around to grab my body wash, wiggling by backside a little as I did so.

"You just love to tease me, don't you?"

"Yeah." I smiled, squeezing some soap in my hands, beginning to rub it over my chest and stomach. Dean grabbed my hips, pulling me flush against him. I let out a low moan at the contact, leaning my head back onto his chest as he kissed my neck.

Not being able to take it any longer, I turned to face him, pulling his head down so his lips would meet mine, kissing him hungrily, feeling him run his hands up my soap-covered sides. There wasn't much fore-play needed and it didn't take long before Dean lifted me up, pushing himself into me. I let out a loud moan at the contact, loving the feeling of him deep inside me as he held onto my thighs. I breathed heavily as he pumped, digging my nails into the tops of his shoulders, the pleasure becoming almost too much to handle.

Before I knew it, I was falling over the edge, my eyes practically rolling back into my head until I opened them, seeing that the shower curtain had shifted in the midst of our lovemaking. I was startled by what I saw there in the room, his name unintentionally coming out mixed with my moan.

"Cas?!"

" _Cas_?" Dean asked through a heavy breath, looking down at me with furrowed brows and slightly annoyed eyes, immediately stopping his thrusts. "What the fuck?"

I squirmed in Dean's grip, telling him to put me down, which he did, a confused look in his eyes as he glanced over his shoulder, immediately pulling the shower curtain back in place when he saw Cas there. "Oh, Jesus- what the fuck?!"

"I'm sorry." Cas murmured. "I didn't know you were having…intercourse."

"How long were you there?" I asked, shutting off the water to hear him better.

"Not long."

"How much did you see?"

"...not...much..."

I sighed, shaking my head. "Oh, Jesus."

Dean shook his head. "What the hell do you want, Cas?"

"I need to speak to you." The angel replied.

"You couldn't have waited like five fucking minutes? Or... _seconds_?" Dean asked, clearly frustrated. I glanced over at him, raising an eyebrow as he let out a sigh, mumbling to himself. "I mean, I was _right there_."

I grimaced, glancing up at Dean with apologetic eyes while Cas replied. "Like I said, I didn't know you were engaging in...sexual intercourse."

"Yeah, yeah. Would you just poof away for a few minutes?"

"This is a serious matter-"

"We need to get dressed, Cas." I interjected.

"Alright."

Peering out of the shower, I saw that Cas was in fact, gone and looked up to Dean. "Did you really think I was thinking about Cas while _we_ were having sex?"

"How the hell was I supposed to know whether or not he was making you have some kind of... _divine intervention_?" Dean asked, completely serious, making me laugh. "It's not funny."

"Right, no. Not funny." I nodded, trying to hold back my smile. "Not at all."

"It's not."

"Well, I think I could make up for that little interruption." I murmured, trailing my hand down his stomach.

"I don't know, what if that little pervert decides to pop in again?"

I shook my head, letting out a chuckle. "Well, we have to do something because if we don't, you'll be crabby."

Dean shrugged, silently agreeing with me. I grinned, using one hand to hold the back of his head, pulling his lips to mine, and the other to grip his length. Dean moaned against my lips as I moved back slightly, trailing kisses down his neck, across his chest, over his stomach, before I moved to my knees in front of him.

* * *

After we'd finished in the shower, Dean and I got dressed and headed out into the room. I sat on the edge of the bed, kicking my legs slightly. Just as I took a sip of water, Cas appeared by the front door, startling me. I sputtered on the mouthful of liquid, coughing a little bit.

Dean rubbed my back, looking up at the angel. "Dude, you gotta give some warning."

"My apologies. I thought you could sense when an angel was about to arrive." Cas said, looking to me.

"Not since Lucifer showed up. Well, not accurately, anyway." I said, able to breathe again. A troubled look crossed Cas face when I'd at that and though he looked away quickly, I didn't miss it. "What is it, Cas?"

"How'd you find us, anyway?" Dean asked. "I thought we were flying below the angel radar."

"You are. Bobby told me where you were." Cas said, glancing around the room. "Where's Sam?"

"Us and Sam- we, uh-" Dean paused, glancing over at me for a second. "We're taking separate vacations for a while. You find God yet? More importantly, can I have my damn necklace back, please?"

"No, I haven't found him. That's why I'm here. I need your help."

"To find God?" I asked.

Dean shook his head. "Not interested."

"It's not God." Cas said. "It's someone else."

"Who?"

"An archangel. The one who killed me. His name is Raphael."

"Whoa." I mumbled.

"You were wasted by a teenage mutant ninja angel?" Dean asked, raising his eyebrows. Both Cas and I glanced up at him, a confused look on the angels face and an amused one on mine.

"I've heard whispers that he's walking the earth. This is a rare opportunity." Cas said.

"For what? Revenge?"

"Information."

"Information...on God?" I asked. "He's just gonna tell you where God is?"

"Yes, because we are gonna trap him and interrogate him."

I glanced up at Cas, seeing a completely serious look on his face and shook my head. "Are you crazy? You want to interrogate an archangel? We're gonna get killed if we do that, Cas."

"No."

"Why not?" Dean asked.

"Because you're Michael's vessel." Cas told him before glancing to me. "And no angel will dare harm you."

"Oh, so we're your bullet shield."

"I need your help because you are the only ones who'll help me. Please."

With a breath, I stood, glancing over to Dean, who saw the look in my eyes and rolled his, silently agreeing. I nodded, looking back to Cas. "Where is he?"

"Maine. Let's go." Cas said, about to reach out and touch our foreheads.

"Whoa." Dean leaned away.

"What?"

"Last time you zapped me someplace I didn't poop for a week." Dean said, glancing between Cas and I as we stared at him. "We're driving."

* * *

 **BAR – NIGHT  
** SPOV

The dimly lit bar that I stood in was rather quiet for this time of night. I'd been here for about a week, and to be honest, it was a pretty peaceful week. Aside from the occasional reminder of how badly I'd fucked up, that is. My mind kept going back to that dream of Jessica. It was so...real. But it was just a dream. Just a dream.

Trying to keep my mind busy, I took a glass, wiping it out with the rag in my hand, drying it. There had been many times that I'd debated calling Tori or Dean, but I stopped myself. They didn't want to hear from me right now, at least Dean didn't. And I didn't want to cause any problems between the two of them just because I couldn't keep my distance. This is what I needed right now. I needed to stay away from hunting, from demons and from angels.

I needed to pretend that the world wasn't ending and it wasn't all my fault.

"Hey, Keith, you play?" Lindsey asked from the dartboard.

"That depends. What are we playing for?" I asked.

"World peace."

"Oh, is that all?"

Lindsey smiled before biting her lip, glancing up at me as she collected the darts from the board. "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"You finished that crossword puzzle in the kitchen?"

I furrowed my brow. "Uh, I guess. Why?"

"The _New York Times_ Saturday crossword?"

"Was it?"

"Uh-huh. You blow into town last week, you don't talk to anybody, you're obviously highly educated. You're like this-"

"Riddle wrapped inside an enigma wrapped inside a taco?" I asked with a smile.

She nodded, smiling back. "Here's what we play for. When I win, you buy me dinner and tell me your life story."

"Sounds fair." I shrugged, making my way around the bar, taking a few darts from her, throwing them all, hitting a bulls-eye each time.

All my years spent trying to beat Tori really paid off, I guess.

"Very mysterioso. I like it."

" _Spring hail, lightning strikes, and now fire-_ " An anchorman on the TV muttered. I glanced up at the small TV mounted in the corner of the room, watching as videos of an intense hailstorm and videos of forests on fire played. " _Locals say that what started as a torrential hailstorm late this afternoon suddenly turned to massive lightning strikes that triggered the fires now consuming more than twenty acres here along the Route seventeen corridor. County officials are advising all Tully residents to prepare for what could become mandatory evacuations._ "

With a huff, the bartender grabbed the remote, shutting of the TV. "Damn. Is it me or does it seem like it's the end of the world?"

* * *

 **WATERVILLE, MAINE – DAY  
Sheriff's Department  
**TPOV

The whole drive here, Cas was eerily quiet in the backseat. It must have been strange for him to be sitting in a car for hours instead of just appearing somewhere. Every single time I looked at him he was either already starting back at me or looking out of the window as the trees passed by.

"And we're here why?" Dean asked as we exited the Impala in our FBI getup's. Cas stayed his in own clothes, but Dean and I had changed before getting here.

"A deputy sheriff laid eyes on the archangel." Cas replied.

"And he still has his eyes? And his life?" I asked, to which Cas simply nodded.

"Alright, what's the plan?" Dean asked.

"We'll tell the officer that he witnessed an angel of the Lord, and the officer will tell us where the angel is." Castiel said, full of nativity.

"You're going to walk in there and tell him the truth?"

"Why not?"

I shared a look with Dean, pulling out an extra fake ID, placing inside Castiel's coat before adjusting his tie. "Because we're humans. And when humans want something really, really bad, we lie."

"...why?"

"Because that's how you become President." I smiled, patting Cas on the chest.

Dean led the way as we entered the department, walking over to one of the men in uniform. "Deputy Framingham?"

"Yes?" The deputy asked, turning around to face us.

"Hi. Alonzo Mosely, FBI." Dean said, holding up his badge, nodding to me as I did the same. "These are my partners Em Dorfler and Eddie Moscone." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Cas hadn't moved to retreived his badge, instead just standing there. "Also, FBI."

Subtly, I nudged Cas in the side, seeing the realization hit him. He pulled out his ID, holding it upside down. I quickly grabbed it, turning it upright in his hand, shooting a smile at the deputy in front of us. "He's...new. Do you mind id we ask a few questions?"

"Yeah, sure." The man nodded, heading off towards his office. Dean shoot Cas a tired look before turning and following the man. I was just about to head into the room when I glanced back and saw Cas inspecting the ID closely.

"Come on." I hissed, grabbing his arm, pulling him with me.

"Alright. Talk here, though." The sheriff said, pointing to his right ear. "Hearing's all blown to hell in the other one."

"That happen recently?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. Gas station. Why you're here, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."

"Alright then, have a seat."

With that, the three of us sat, leaving Cas standing up behind my chair. I glanced back at him, widening my eyes, silently telling him to sit as well. It almost looked as though Cas wanted to roll his eyes at me, but he took the seat next to mine anyway.

"You mind just running us through what happened?" Dean prompted.

"A call came in." He explained. "Disturbance out at the Pump and Go on Route four."

"What kind of disturbance?"

"Would not have believed my eyes if I hadn't seen it myself. We're talking a riot. Full scale."

"How many?"

"Thirty, forty, in all-out kill-or-be-killed combat."

"Any idea what set them off?"

"It's angels and demons, probably." Cas said. "They're skirmishing all over the globe."

"Come again?" The sheriff asked, raising an eyebrow in shock as he looked over to Dean and I. "What did he say?"

 _Nothing_. Dean muttered at the same time Castiel said, _demons_. The sheriff looked at him like he was insane.

"Demons, you know, drink, adultery." Dean said, trying to cover up for the angel next to me. "We all have our demons, Walt."

"I...guess." Sheriff Framingham muttered.

"Anyway..." I mumbled. "What happened next?"

"Freaking explosion, that's what. They said it was one of those underground gas tanks, but, uh, I don't think so."

"No?"

"Wasn't your usual fireball. It was, um-"

"Pure white." Cas interjected.

"Yeah. Gas station was leveled. Everyone was...it was just horrible. And I see this one guy, kneeling, real focused-like, not a damn scratch on him."

"You know him?" Dean inquired, knowing we found our guy.

"Donnie Finneman. Mechanic there."

"Let me guess, he just vanished into thin air?"

"Uh, no, _Kolchak_. He's down at Saint Pete's."

"Thank you." Dean said, standing to his feet.

"Sure." The sheriff nodded, standing up as well.

With that, we turned and left the office. Once outside, Dean turned, glancing up at Cas. "Do you think you could try to act a little more human?"

"I don't know how." Cas shrugged.

"Just- just don't start talking about angels and demons, okay? Humans don't take to well to that." I said as we got into the Impala, heading over to Saint Peter's.

* * *

The only thing separating us from Donnie's room was a thick pane of clean, clear glass, the stale hospital smell filling my nose. The man sitting in the room in front of us was seemingly nothing more than a shell. He was propped up in a wheelchair, staring blankly out the window as the wind blew around the tree branches. I felt uncomfortable just looking at him, knowing why he was in such a state. An angel.

"I take it that's not Raphael anymore." Dean muttered.

"Just an empty vessel." Castiel replied.

"So is this what I'm looking at if Michael jumps in my bones?"

"No, not at all. Michael is much more powerful. It'll be far worse for you."

"...what if she said yes?" Dean asked, glancing over at me. I pulled in a deep breath, not wanting to hear his answer.

"You would never be the same again." Cas said simply, leaving it at that as he turned and walked away. I glanced up at Dean, fear in my eyes as I let that sink in, out futures completely and totally unsure.

How long could we fight?

* * *

 **MOTEL – NIGHT  
** SPOV

Back inside the motel room, I sat at the table, staring at the picture of a page from the Book of Revelations in Latin, highlighting a few sections, magnifying them. I glanced over at my phone, picking it up, scrolling through the names, passing _Bobby_ until I came upon _Dean._ He wouldn't want me to call. So I kept going, seeing Tori's name.

Telling myself that I promised to not bother her, I scrolled back up to Bobby's name, calling his number.

" _Sam?_ "

"Hey Bobby. How you doing?"

" _Well, I ain't running any marathons, but I'll live._ " Bobby grumbled. I laughed lightly. _"Where are you?_ "

"Uh, Garber, Oklahoma. I found a town up the road showing some Revelation omens."

" _What omens?_ "

"Listen to this. _And upon his rising there shall be hail and fire mixed with blood_."

" _Well ain't that delightful._ "

"Yeah. But we already got hailstorms and fire so I'm guessing blood can't be too far behind."

" _Okay._ "

"What?"

" _There a reason you're calling?_ "

"I just uh- Dean or Tori didn't tell you?"

" _Vic told me._ "

"Yeah. So I just thought you might want to find out who's in the area and put a man on this."

" _Okay, let me see if I can think of the best hunter who might be in the immediate vicinity...oh, that'd be you._ "

"I can't, Bobby, I'm sitting this one out." I muttered.

"Sam-"

"I gotta go. I'm so sorry."

* * *

 **ABANDONED HOUSE – NIGHT  
** TPOV

After we found the home all of this would go down in, Dean and I stayed here, lighting a few candles while Cas disappeared to go retrieve what we needed to summon Raphael. Dean paced back and forth, John's journal in his hands.

"This is idiotic." Dean mumbled with a huff throwing his arms down to his side.

"I know but if this is the only shot we've got at _finding God_ , we have to do it. Especially if we don't want to say _yes_." I sighed.

"Speaking of saying _yes..._ I know what would happen to me if I did, but what about you? What the hell do you have to say _yes_ to?"

"I'm not sure I want to know."

Suddenly, Castiel appeared across the room, holding a jar of liquid in his hands. Dean glanced over at him. "Where have you been?"

"Jerusalem." He replied.

"Oh, how was it?" Dean asked sarcastically.

"Arid."

"What's that?" I asked as Cas placed the jar on the table.

"It's oil. It's very special. Very rare."

"Okay, so we trap Raphael with a nice vinaigrette?" Dean asked.

"No."

"So this ritual of yours, when does it got to go down?"

"Sunrise."

"Tell me something. You keep saying we're gonna trap this guy. Isn't that kinda like trapping a hurricane with a butterfly net?"

"No, it's harder."

"Do we have any chance of surviving this?"

"The both of you do."

"So you'll be dead tomorrow?" I asked, looking over at him in shock, a sadness filling my chest.

"Yes."

"Well. Last night on earth. What are your plans?" Dean asked.

"I just thought I'd sit here quietly."

"Come on, anything? Booze, women? You have been with women before, right? Or an angel, at least?"

"Dean." I scolded as Cas looked away uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You mean to tell me that you peeped on us having sex because you've never done the deed?"

"Look, I've never had occasion, okay? And I wasn't... _peeping_."

"Alright." Dean said, grabbing his jacket. "Let me tell you something. There are two things I know for certain. One, Bert and Ernie are gay. Two, you are _not_ gonna die a virgin. Not on my watch. Let's go."

"Go where?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I think you know." Dean muttered suggestively.

My eyes widened and I shook my head, knowing what he was talking about. "Dean, we are not doing that."

"Yes, we are. Listen, you can stay here if you want."

"Fuck no. You think I'd let you go there without me?"

"Nope." Dean grinned. Castiel looked between the two of us, nothing but confusion written on his face. "Come on, Tor, do you really want the poor guy to die a virgin?"

"...only if he doesn't want to."

"He's a guy, he doesn't want to."

"He's an angel, Dean. He's not a _guy_ and he's certainly not you."

"What's the supposed to mean?" Dean asked, looking insulted.

"That- you know what? If you're so worried about him losing his virginity, why don't I just have sex with him?" I asked, leaving Dean speechless. "That's what I thought."

"That- okay, that's just stupid."

I rolled my eyes, turning to the very confused angel. "Cas, do you even want to go?"

"I don't- where are we going?" He asked.

"To have a couple drinks." Dean said, tossing my jacket to me, leaving the room.

* * *

The stale smell of beer lingered in the air around us as we sat at the brothel's bar. I couldn't even believe I was here with my fiance right now, let alone being here with an angel. Speaking of said angel, I'd never seen Cas so full of an expression other than confusion. He looked absolutely terrified to be here.

"Hey, relax." Dean called, drinking some of his whiskey.

"This is a den of iniquity. I should not be here." Cas replied through clenched teeth.

"Dude, you full-on rebelled against heaven. Iniquity is one of the perks."

"We should go, Dean." I said, shooting him a hard look.

"Cas has to loosen up if he's gonna be _Here Today, Gone Tomorrow."_

"Dean-"

"Hi." A leggy, skimpily dressed blonde smiled at us as she approached, looking down at Cas. "What's your name?

"His name is Cas." Dean said when he noticed that Cas wasn't even looking at her, much less going to introduce himself. I couldn't help but smile at him. His innocence was endearing. "What's your name?"

"Chastity."

" _Chastity_. Wow. Is that kismet or what, buddy?" Dean asked, clapping Cas on the shoulder. "Well, he likes you, you like him, so _dayenu_."

Chastity smiled, tugging on Castiel's sleeve. "Come on, baby."

"Um-" Cas muttered, standing next to her. Just as she dragged him along,

Dean caught his arm, handing him a wad of cash. "Hey, listen, take this. If she asks for a credit card, no. Now just stick to the basics, okay? Do not order off the menu."

"But-"

"Don't make me push you."

Reluctantly, Cas took the money, following Chastity to a long hallway where they disappeared into a room. I let out a sigh, shaking my head. "You're horrible."

"Hey, he doesn't know what's good for him. Gotta push him in the right direction."

"Right. And what are we supposed to do now?"

"I bet they'd let us take one of the rooms-"

"Okay, I'm sorry, but I draw the line at having sex in a brothel. I mean, when was the last time you think any of this stuff was...cleaned?"

A look of disgust crossed Dean's face as he began to nod. "Yeah, you have a point there."

Suddenly, a loud scream came from down the hallway and Dean and I immediately got up, rushing over to find Cas standing in the doorway, looking a little desheved as Chastity threw something at him.

"Get out of my face, bastard! Screw you, jerk! I'll kill you!" She screamed, storming past us. "Jerk!"

"The hell did you do?" Dean asked as Cas walked over to us.

"I don't know. I just looked her in the eyes and told her it wasn't her fault that her father Gene ran off. It was because he hated his job at the post office." Cas replied innocently.

"Oh, no, man."

"What?"

"This whole industry runs on absent fathers. It's, it's the natural order."

"Oh my god, Dean." I mumbled, rolling my eyes, trying not to laugh. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Chastity walked over with two bouncers and grabbed Cas and Dean by their arms. "We should go."

"Yeah, good idea." Dean nodded.

The three of us headed out the door in the opposite direction, leading out to an alleyway where we got back into the Impala.

* * *

 **BAR – NIGHT  
** SPOV

Passing by a few people playing pool, I placed a couple empty glasses on the tray I was holding, making my way back to the bar when I heard someone calling me. I ignored it, and kept going, but they kept calling.

"Sam?"

"Sam? What happened to Keith?" Lindsey asked once I'd reached the bar, having heard the man.

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"He called you Sam."

"Yeah. Uh. Sam's my middle name."

"Keith Sam?" She chuckled. "Man, I'm sorry."

"Well, actually, it's Samuel, so it's not quite as dumb as it sounds." The man said, walking up to the bar.

"Are you guys friends?" Lindsey asked. I looked at the man and the other two walking up behind him, recognizing them as Tim, Steve and Reggie. Hunters.

"Hunting buddies. With his dad. Samuel here is quite the hunter himself." Steve said.

"Wow. You killed deer and things?" Lindsey asked me.

"Yeah, and things." Tim muttered.

"Um, why don't I get you guys some drinks?" I asked, shooting them looks. They nodded, heading over to a table as I got a couple beers, heading over to their table, sitting down.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to bust you back there." Tim said.

"No, uh, it's alright. So, what's up?"

"Bobby called."

"And?"

"You were right. Major demon block party going on."

"But why? What are they up to?"

"Don't know yet." Steve shrugged.

"Bobby told us you were off limits. That true?" Reggie asked.

"Yeah, that's right." I nodded.

"That's fine in theory and all, but we could really use all hands on deck here." Tim said.

"I know you could. But I can't. I'm sorry."

"Why not?" Steve asked.

"It's personal."

"Look, man, what baggage is so heavy it can't be stowed away for the fucking apocalypse?" Tim asked.

"Like I said-"

"Yeah. You're sorry. Heard it the first time." Reggie said.

"Suit yourself." Tim shrugged. "More for us then, right?"

"Good luck." I told them.

"But hey. Beers are on you when we get back."

"Yeah, you bet." I nodded, heading back over to the bar.

"So your parents were drunk when they named you and you shoot Bambi?" Lindsey asked.

"It's a long story."

"That is it. Enough with the kung fu wandering the earth thing. I'm gonna buy you dinner and we're gonna talk."

"Lindsey, I can't." I shook my head, fear running through me.

"No. The only way to avoid bloodshed is to say yes."

* * *

Later that night when the bar was bit more cleared out, Lindsey ordered some food for us, and now we were sitting a table where she was expecting me to spill my guts and tell her my entire life story.

"So...you gonna tell me who those guys back there really were? And don't say hunting buddies."

"Okay. We used to be in the same business together." I muttered.

"What business?"

"How's your salad?"

"Witness protection, right? You're Mafia?"

"I'm not Mafia." I chuckled.

"Okay, I get it. Don't mean to pry, my bad."

"I used to be in business with my brother and his fiance. Truth is I was pretty good at the job. But I made some mistakes, I did some stuff I'm not so proud of, and people got hurt. A lot of people."

"What was your poison?"

"Sorry?"

"Come on. You were hooked on something, I know the look." Lindsey said, pulling a medallion out of her pocket. "Three years sober."

I raised an eyebrow. "You work in a bar."

"So do you. Look, Keith. I don't know you and I'm the last person to be giving advice, but I do know that no one has ever done anything so bad that they can't be forgiven. That they can't change."

Every part of me wanted to believe that...but there was just that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that told me she was wrong. She was wrong because what I'd done wasn't just some average, run-of-the-mill mistake. It was big.

How could I ever be forgiven for it?

* * *

 **HOSPITAL – NIGHT  
** TPOV

Once the nurse had passed, Dean and I crept over to Donnie's room, making our way inside where Cas was already standing, pouring oil from the jar around the wheelchair.

"When the oil burns, no angel can touch or pass through the flames, or he dies." He explained.

"Okay, so we trap him in a steel cage of holy fire, but one question. How the hell do we get him here?" Dean asked.

"Very simple. There's...almost an open phone line between a vessel and his angel. One just has to know how to dial." Cas leaned down to Donnie's ear, chanting in another language, standing upright. "I'm here, Raphael. Come and get me, you little bastard."

"Just out of curiosity, what is the average customer wait time to speak to an archangel?"

Cas didn't reply, lightly a match, dropping it on the oil. It burst into a ring of flames, surrounding the wheelchair in an instant.

* * *

 **BAR – NIGHT  
** SPOV

The sound of the chime above the door ringing caught my attention as I mindlessly wiped down a table, thinking back to Lindsey's words. I turned around, about to say tell whoever it was that the bar is closed until I saw Tim standing there.

"Hey."

"Something you want to tell me, Sam?" Tim asked, anger in his eyes.

"What? No."

"You sure about that?"

"I- I don't know..jeez. Are you okay? Where are Reggie and Steve?"

"Oh, Steve's good, he's, uh, his guts are lying roadside outside the Hawley Five and Dime."

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry don't cut it, Sam."

"What do you want me to say?"

"The truth." Tim said. I just stared at him, not sure what he wanted from me. "Okay, fine. Let me give you some of my own, then. We go into town, we catch ourselves a demon, we get jumped by ten more. Steve bought it."

"I'm sorry."

"Saying it twice don't make it so, Sam. You see, this demon, he- he told us things. Crazy things, things about you, Sam."

"Demons lie." I said, nervousness bubbling inside me.

"I'm gonna ask you one last time. The truth. Now."

The door chimed again and I looked past Tim to see Reggie hauling Lindsey inside, holding a knife to her neck. She looked over at me, terrified. "What's going on?"

"Just take it easy, okay? Put the knife down." I said. Reggie placed the knife down on the bar, still holding Lindsey tight. "It's true. What the demons said, it's all true."

Tim nodded. "Keep going."

"Why? You gonna hate me any less? Am I gonna hate myself any less? What do you want?"

"I want to hear you say it."

"I did it. I started the apocalypse." I swallowed hard, looking away from Lindsey's eyes. Tim held up a tube of dark red liquid, sloshing it around. "What is that?"

"What do you think it is? It's go juice, Sammy boy."

"Get that away from me."

"Away from you? No. This is for you. Hell if that demon wasn't right as rain. Down the hatch, son." Tim said, walking over to me.

"You're insane."

"Here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna drink this, Hulk out, and you're gonna waste every one of the demon scum that killed my best friend." Tim muttered, nodding over to Lindsey as Reggie handcuffed her to the bar. "Or she dies."

"You wouldn't do that."

"It's funny how watching your best friend die changes that." Tim said, both him and Reggie advancing towards me as I backed away. "Come on, you know you want it, Sam. Just reach out and take it."

Suddenly, Reggie charged me, tossing me onto the pool table. My back hit it with a hard smack and before I could fight back, Reggie held me down while Tim held my mouth open, pouring the blood into it. There was apart of me that wanted to swallow it as he shoved my mouth shut, the feeling and taste of it bringing me back to thoughts of that power I felt months ago.

"There. Was that really so bad?" Tim asked as he and Reggie backed away.

Catching them off guard, I spit the blood in Tim's face as I jumped off the table, punching Reggie, knocking him to the ground before grabbing Tim, slamming him down onto the bar where I held Reggie's knife to his throat. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lindsey staring at me with scared eyes and immediately sobered up, throwing Tim over to Reggie.

"Go."

"Don't think we won't be back." Tim threatened.

"Don't think I won't be here."

* * *

There was nothing I could say to Lindsey except for _I'm sorry,_ over and over again as I released her from the bar. She stared up at me with scared, confused eyes. But there was nothing I could say. So I just left, dragging myself back to the motel to try and get some sleep and then figure out in the morning what I was going to do.

" _Sam. Sam._ " A faint voice called out, waking me out of a deep sleep. I turned over, seeing Jess lying next to me. Even though I knew this was a dream, I held onto her, pulling her to me. "So. This is your life now? Think you can just live forever with your head buried in the sand?"

"I love you, Jess." I murmured, sitting up. "God knows how much I miss you, too. But you're wrong. People can change. There is reason for hope."

"No, Sam. There isn't." She replied, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because you freed me." A deep voice muttered. I turned around to see a man sitting there and immediately backed away, fear settling in my stomach. "That's right. You know who I am."

"Lucifer."

"You are a hard one to find, Sam. Harder than most humans. I don't suppose you'd tell me where you are?"

"What do you want with me?"

"Thanks to you, I walk the earth. I want to give you a gift. I want to give you everything."

"I don't want anything from you."

"I'm so sorry, Sam. I- I really am, but Nick here is just an improvisation. Plan B. He can barely contain me without spontaneously combusting."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, backing away as he stood, walking towards me.

"Why do you think you were in that chapel? You're the one, Sam. You're my vessel. My true vessel."

My stomach sank and I shook my head, not wanting to believe him. "No."

"Yes."

"No. That'll never happen."

"I'm sorry, but it will. I will find you. And when I do, you will let me in. I'm sure of it."

"You need my consent."

He shrugged. "Of course. I'm an angel."

"I will kill myself before letting you in."

"I'll just bring you back." He sighed. "Sam. My heart breaks for you. The weight on your shoulders, what you've done, what you still have to do. It is more than anyone could bear. If there was some other way...but there isn't. I will never lie to you. I will never trick you. But you will say yes to me."

"You're wrong."

"I'm not. I think I know you better than you know yourself."

"Why me?"

"Because it had to be you, Sam. It always had to be you."

* * *

 **ABANDONED HOUSE – NIGHT  
** TPOV

The three of us approached the house, stepping inside when suddenly, Cas grabbed my arm, pulling me back slightly as a bright light shined around us and the ringing went loud in my ears. As I opened my eyes, I saw Donnie standing in the middle of the room, wings spreading out behind him as the light bulbs lit and shattered around us.

"Castiel." He muttered.

Cas nodded. "Raphael."

"And I thought you were supposed to be impressive." Dean taunted. "All you do is black out the room."

'And the Eastern Seaboard." Raphael added as another light flashed outside. "It is a testament to my unending mercy that I do not smite you here and now."

"Or maybe you're full of crap. Maybe you're afraid God will bring Cas back to life again and smite you and your candy-ass skirt. By the way, hi, I'm Dean."

"I know who you are. And now, thanks to Castiel, I know _where_ you are."

"You won't kill him, you wouldn't dare." Cas said.

"But I will take him to Michael."

"No you won't." I said.

"I won't?" Raphael asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

Raphael chuckled, shaking his head. "Surely you remember Zachariah giving him stomach cancer? Well, he doesn't have anything close to my imagination."

"I bet you didn't imagine one thing."

"What?"

"We knew you were coming, you son of a bitch." I said, taking my lighter from behind my back, dropping it onto the ring of oil, igniting the circle around a surprised looking Raphael.

"Where is He?" Cas asked, taking a step forward.

"God?" Raphael scoffed. "Didn't you hear? He's dead, Castiel. Dead."

"No. That- that can't be."

"But there's no other explanation. He's gone for good."

"You're lying."

"Am I?" He challenged. "Do you remember the twentieth century? Think the twenty-first is going any better? Do you think God would have let any of that happen if He were alive?"

"Oh yeah?" Dean interjected. "Well then who invented the Chinese basket trick?"

"Careful. That's my Father you're talking about, boy."

"One who would be so proud to know his sons started the end of times." I said.

"One who ran off and disappeared. Who left no instructions and a world to run."

"So God's gone and you and all the other kids just decide to go off and throw an apocalypse?" I asked, taking a step away from Dean and Cas, towards the archangel.

"We're tired. We just want it to be over. We just want...paradise."

"Paradise." I scoffed. "And that, to you, is wiping out the whole planet? And for what?"

"It's amazing how you know so little."

"Oh, I know plenty. Enough to know you're all scumbags."

"You're still saying that?" He asked, looking thoughtful. "Castiel didn't tell you? I would have thought, given your history, he would have by now."

"Tell me what?" I asked, glancing back at Cas, who looked away.

"You believe that all angels are, as you so eloquently put it, _scumbags_?" Raphael asked, shaking his head.

"Well, you haven't really proven me wrong yet."

"When you speak ill of us, you speak ill of yourself."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Dean spat.

Raphael stared at me for a moment, letting out a breath. "I suppose you'll have to learn the hard way."

Lightening flashed outside, thunder clapping loudly through the sky as the windows broke, glass flying around us. I felt something hit the back of my head, and everything went black.

* * *

 **Thanks to bookwriter123456 who helped me with this one and the next few chapters! Go check out her spn fanfic! :)**

 **As always, thanks for reading and I hope you liked it!**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanficion**


	4. Show Me What I'm Looking For

_Wait, I'm wrong  
Should've done better than this  
Please, I'll be strong  
I'm finding it hard to resist _

…

 _Don't let go  
I've wanted this far too long  
Mistakes become regrets  
I've learned to love abuse _

… _.._

 _Save me, I'm lost  
Oh lord, I've been waiting for you  
I'll pay any cost  
Just save me from being confused  
Wait, I'm wrong  
I can't do better than this  
I'll pay any cost  
Save from being confused  
Show me what I'm looking for  
Show me what I'm looking for  
Oh, lord_

 _ **Carolina Liar – Show Me What I'm Looking For**_

* * *

 _Still unconscious from the blow to her head, Victoria was seemingly locked inside her own head. She couldn't force herself to wake up, she could barely even process her own thoughts. A mixture of images fluttered behind her eyelids like scenes from a movie playing out before her._

Thousands of years ago there was an archangel, Camael. He stood next to his other brother Michael and his younger brother Lucifer, right beside God, watching as he created more angels. Quite unlike his two siblings, Camael was kind to all of angels no matter their rank or position in heaven. It didn't matter to him whether they were archangels or not, they were his family. But in battle, Camael was fierce, absolute. One of heaven's most terrifying weapons.

It was then that God had created Earth. It was beautiful. Then God began to create life outside of heaven, outside of their universe. Humanity. He placed them on earth and commanded the angels to bow to them, to love them. Lucifer, who had always managed to pick fights with their Father despite being one of his favorites, despised this, thrashing out in a jealous rage. He didn't understand why they had to bow down to such an imperfect, flawed creation.

Quietly, Lucifer planned to wage war against God and there were moments when he would corner his older brother in some recess of heaven, temping him to join his side, saying that their Father would understand more if the both of them _brought it to his attention_. Lucifer knew not to do this with Michael, however, as he was nothing if not completely loyal to their father, so instead he went to Camael, who understood his brother's frustration. Though he couldn't turn his back on their father if this was what he truly wanted.

Each time Lucifer would ask, Camael would refuse, causing Lucifer to become more and more bitter towards him with each try. It saddened Camael, as he had once had a good relationship with his brother. Camael watched the humans, noting their faults just like Lucifer had.

They weren't really anything spectacular. They were murderous, sometimes evil, going against each other in the worst possible ways. Yet there was something special about them. They had love, they had hope. And the good ones, they had each other.

It wasn't long before Lucifer had taken his war against God to another level, getting himself cast out of heaven. Both Michael and Camael, who were sent to banish Lucifer to hell, had tried to plead with their brother to apologize. That they could all start over, but he refused and they did what needed to be done.

Camael never quite forgot his little brother, thinking about him all the time.

* * *

Camael had watched many lives come and go on earth. From Adam and Eve to their sons Cain and Able, to Moses parting the red sea, Camael seen it all and did the things his Father told him to do.

Some years later, Camael had decided to pay a visit to earth, something he felt was long overdue. He never would have told his Father this, but he wanted to really see if anything Lucifer had said was true, he wanted to witness everything for himself, not just watching from above.

Were humans really that horrible? He'd questioned many times why they had free will if all they were going to do was hurt each other, to which God never really had an answer for him.

It was time Camael found out for himself.

* * *

A devout man sat in a church, his head bowed down as he prayed for clarity. Camael heard this, shocked to feel a strange connection to the man. God had told the angels about their vessels, especially the archangels. Not just any human could hold them, they needed someone special and Camael felt that this man was it, his vessel.

The archangel spoke to the man, telling him that things would be okay, comforting the man before asking if he could see the world through his eyes. Of course, the man said yes and in an instant, Camael snapped down into the body of Joseph Anderson.

Camael held his hands out in front of him, looking down at them in awe as he clenched his fists. This felt so strange. Pulling in a heavy breath, Camael stood upright, looking around the church before making his way outside. He tried to act normal, stepping down the street as though this wasn't his first time doing so.

And it wouldn't be his last.

* * *

God had long since disappeared and Camael soothed his woes by going to earth, taking time to try and forget the chaos in his home. So many decades had passed that Camael's original vessel was long gone, but his children and their children were always able to hold the power of the archangel if he felt like paying a visit to earth, something he did quite often.

Michael didn't understand his brother's fascination with humanity, he loved them because he was ordered to, not because he really felt it. Camael, on the other hand, had seen first-hand human interaction, and while it wasn't always perfect, it was amazing to him.

It had been quite some time since Camael had visited earth and he honed in on that same feeling he got, quickly finding William Anderson, the ancestor of his original vessel, sitting in a church, praying much like Joseph had all those years ago. Camael approached the young man like he did Joseph, and William quickly said yes, having heard stories of this happening to his family in the past.

With that, Camael made his way through the town, stumbling much less now that he'd had practice. So it was a strange thing for him to bump into someone. Camael held the woman upright as she swayed, glancing up at him with flushed red cheeks.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." She murmured, looking up at the angel with bright blue eyes that held his the gaze of his vessels own deep hazel ones.

"It's alright." Camael replied, dropping his hands quickly when he realized they were still on her shoulders. "My name is William. William Anderson."

The brunette smiled. "I'm Julia Price."

Camael was captivated, though he wasn't completely sure why and even long after they had parted ways, he couldn't seem to get the thought of that dark chocolate-haired beauty out of his mind. Even after he had returned to heaven, he just kept thinking about her. Physically, she was beautiful, but inside she was just the same. Her soul was pure and good, no tint of hatred and maliciousness like some people had.

The archangel's brothers had noticed a change in him, mentioning it quite a few times. But Camael ignored them, silently trying to come up with a way to see _her_ again, to hear her voice. Sure, he could just go into her bedroom at night without her knowledge, but something felt wrong about that. He didn't want to do that to her, even if she wouldn't ever know.

* * *

With God absent, Camael took it upon himself to visit earth much more frequently than he ever had before, walking down that same street at the same time, hoping to bump into her again. Time and time again, however, she wasn't there. With a deep sigh and the realization that she was human after all and she might have left the small town with her family.

Camael moved over to a small park, sitting down on a bench as he watched the wind make the pond water ripple. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a woman pass, something inside telling him to look. He sat there in awe for a few moments, staring at Julia as she made her way across the park. Before she could get out of view, Camael moved behind her.

"Julia?"

"Yes?" She asked, turning around. As soon as her eyes met his, they lit up. This was the man she had been looking for over the past few months. "William?"

"You remember me?"

"I couldn't forget." Julia chuckled, blushing slightly.

"Don't be embarrassed." Camael smiled. "I couldn't forget you either."

"Really?"

Camael knew it was wrong, and he knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't help himself. "Would you like to go have dinner with me?"

Julia stammered for a moment before nodding. "I- I'd love to."

* * *

Though the course of a year, Camael had been spending all of his time on earth rather than in heaven. His brothers had noticed, he knew this because he felt them watching him. Michael especially, with disapproval. But the archangel didn't care, because he had fallen in love. He knew it shouldn't have, he knew it with every fiber of his being. But he also knew that he loved that woman, and that outweighed the all of the negatives.

Julia's father had hinted many times towards who he thought to be Victor proposing to his daughter, something Camael had though about. But he couldn't.

One day, Michael appeared to his brother, looking at him in disapproval. "What are you doing, Camael?"

"Michael-"

"That woman-"

"She has a name, Michael."

"What happened to you, brother?"

"Nothing."

"What would our father think?"

"He commanded us to love them, didn't he?"

"Camael. You can't do this. You're not setting an example for the other angels."

"I don't have to do that, Michael."

"You know what will happen if you're with her. That cannot be. I'd have to stop you." Michael said weakly, not wanting to threaten his little brother.

Camael knew very well what Michael meant by this. The only thing that could come from a human and angel paring was an abomination. A Nephilim.

Still, the angel felt the need to argue with his older brother. "Why do you think you're in charge?"

"Someone has to be."

"Not you."

"Camael, do not make me do this."

"What will you do, Michael? Kill me?"

"You know I can't do that."

"Then let us be. We're happy."

Michael shook his head. "What happens to you when she dies?"

"What?"

"She's human, brother. She'll age. What happens when she dies?" Michael asked, not wanting to hurt his brother, but seeing no other way to get him to understand. "You have to come home."

"No."

"You're going to throw away everything you have with us for her?"

"Go away, Michael."

"Fine." Michael mumbled, disappearing.

Camael headed outside to take in some fresh air and try to clear his head. This wasn't the first time he had thought about the time when his beloved Julia would grow old and pass on. Each time he always told himself the same thing, he'll worry about that another day. But he did have to realize that each day Julia was getting older while he was staying the same. She would want to be married, she would want children. Those are things he simply couldn't give her.

But at this point, after allowing himself to get so emotionally invested, he couldn't live out eternity after her death. It just wouldn't be possible.

Panic rose in Camael's chest as he heard a scream come from an alleyway, rushing over to see Julia lying on the ground, holding her abdomen as blood gushed from the wound. Camael dropped to his knees at her side, seeing her look at him in surprise.

"Will?" She gasped.

"It's okay, sweetie." Camael muttered, his hands moving over her body, but never really touching her, not sure of what to do.

He couldn't just sit here and let her die, not when he could do something about it. He knew Michael was right, she would die someday. But that was not today. It didn't matter if she was afraid of him afterwords, he couldn't let her go like this.

With a deep breath, he placed a hand over her wound, healing her with a single touch. Julia let out a loud gasp as she looked down to her stomach with wide eyes before slowly letting them drift up to Camael's face.

"How did you-"

In that moment, Camael knew he couldn't lie to her any longer. "You'll think I'm crazy."

"Crazier than you magically healing me?"

"I'm an angel."

"You're an- a what?"

"An angel." Camael repeated. Suddenly, Julia's eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out.

* * *

He wasn't sure why, but after she awoke, Julia insisted on going back to Camael's apartment with him, even though he'd told her many times it was fine if she ran away screaming. But she wouldn't budge she couldn't. Sure, she was scared, but the love she felt trumped that fear.

"Do you need more to drink?" Camael asked.

"No, I'm alright." Julia muttered, taking a sip of her water.

"How are you sitting here so calmly right now?"

"I don't know." She murmured, looking up. "I may have a secret of my own."

"What?"

"My family, we protect people. We-"

"Kill monsters." Camael said, knowing how her family was involved with that world. Julia looked surprised.

"How did you know- that's a silly question, I suppose. So you know everything about me?" She asked, watching Camael look down, silently saying yes. "Okay then, tell me more about you."

"About me?"

"Yes, you."

Camael let out a sigh, figuring that he might as well put it all out there now. What does he have to lose? "This isn't- this is a vessel."

"A vessel?"

"I can't just walk the earth, I need a body to carry me, essentially."

"Like a-"

"Demon? No. They take the people they possess, torture them. This man prayed. He said yes when I asked him. Angels can't just possess people.

"Who are you, then, if you're not William?"

"My name is Camael. I'm an archangel."

"An archangel? As in one of the original angels?"

"...yes."

"What happened to.. _William_?"

"He's here. But you've only ever spoken to me."

The two sat in silence as Julia let all of this information sink in. There was part of her that wanted to run straight out the door, but she didn't, because she couldn't. She wasn't whole when she was without him. And as crazy as it sounded, she loved him too much to let this stop her.

* * *

Camael spent the night giving Julia reasons as to why they couldn't be together, but she barely paid attention to any of them. The the night fell, Camael returned Julia to her home where she placed a kiss on his cheek, shooting him a smile before heading inside.

On the way back to his apartment, Camael thought things over before he finally decided what he was going to do. Humans mourned the loss of people they loved, but they had a lot of space in their hearts to let new love in with time. Julia could learn to love again. And her, being so special, would find someone who loved her, who could give her the things Camael decided he never could. Someone who could make her life whole, make her truly happy. Someone who she wasn't in danger with. Because Camael knew it wasn't safe for a human to be with an angel like this.

The ringing in his ears got louder and louder, the whispers turning frantic as he lifted the angel blade in front of himself, pulling in a deep breath when he realized what he was about to do. If he did this, he wouldn't just kill himself, he would kill William as well. That was something he couldn't do. William was an innocent in all of this.

Camael sat down on the edge of the bed, a million thoughts racing through his mind, until they landed on one. His grace. If he took out his grace, he would be reborn, his memory erased. While it wasn't something he preferred, Camael decided that it was the only solution, the only way to insure he wouldn't remember Julia and also to spare William's life.

The pain Camael felt was like no other as he ripped and clawed at his grace, trying desperately to take it out. Time seemed to pass slower than ever before as he dug his hands deep into the bright, white and blue light inside of him, the world around him going black once he'd finally ripped it out.

* * *

The archangel's eyes snapped open, seeing that he was staring up at the ceiling of his apartment's bedroom. Camael looked around, noticing that he was still in Victor's body, something that shouldn't be if his grace was gone.

 _No, this isn't right._ He thought. _This isn't right_.

Did he not do it right? Was his grace still in tact? That's not possible. No, the feeling that filled him told him so, his grace was gone and so was William. But, why? Why was Chamael allowed to stay in this body? Where did William go? Who did this? Camael never got any answers, but that didn't stop the questions from playing in his mind.

* * *

Over the passing of another year, Camael had told Julia what happened and her response was _maybe G_ _od wants us to be together_. Camael wasn't sure he completely believed that, but he wasn't about to argue. Julia was the only one to call Camael by his true name when they were at home, but otherwise he went as William Anderson. And it wasn't too long later that the young couple got married. Camael hadn't heard a peep from heaven, and he found that he enjoyed the silence of it all. A few months after moving into their house, Julia discovered that she was pregnant, and they couldn't have been happier.

The former archangel found it amazing, watching Julia's pregnancy. Sure he had seen plenty of them from heaven, but this was different for so many reasons. This was the love of his life carrying his child. Nine months later, they welcomed a bright turquoise-eyed baby girl into the world and named her Elizabeth.

* * *

Life seemed to be perfect, Elizabeth was a healthy and smart child, full of energy. Julia and Camael never lost their love for each other, in fact it grew stronger every single day. But with a bit of his extra senses still in tact, Camael felt as though strange tides were turning. Something bad was beginning to happen, he could feel it.

One day while he was alone in his room, Camael bowed his head, praying to the brother he knew he could count on in this particular situation. While he was much younger, he was smart and fierce, much like Camael had been in his younger days as an angel. But he also loved humanity, and Camael knew he would do this for him.

"Camael?" The angel asked, appearing before his brother, a confused look on his face.

"Castiel." He smiled at the dark-haired, blue-eyed vessel his brother was in. "How are you?"

"Fine."

Camael smiled, knowing his brother wasn't one to use many words. "Have you heard any whispers in heaven?"

"About what?"

"Anything."

"No."

"I feel like something's...wrong."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure." Camael swallowed hard. "Will- will you do something for me?"

"Of course. What is it?"

* * *

Over the next few days, that feeling that something was coming hadn't left Camael. In their backyard, he watched as Elizabeth played with their longtime neighbors' daughter, Mary. Camael knew that the Campbell's were hunters, a certain type of person he hadn't come in contact with very much in all his time on earth. One thing he did know though, was that hunters were loyal to their families. And they took care of the people they loved.

Having already discussed it with Julia, the two of them sat around across from the Samuel and Deanna at their patio table, preparing to ask quite a lot from the Campbell's. There was no part of Camael that wanted his little Lizzie to grow up to be a hunter, but he knew she would be safe with them.

"Can we ask you something?" Camael wondered aloud, holding Julia's hand underneath the table.

"Sure." Samuel Campbell nodded. "What?"

"If something were to happen to Julia and I, would you take care of Liz for us?"

Samuel and Deanna had shocked looks on their faces, their eyes darting between myself and Julia, who held back tears. "There's no one else we trust like you. You're good people. Liz and Mary are best friends."

"What's going on?" Samuel asked, looking worried.

"Nothing. It's- it's just in case."

The husband and wife in front of us exchanged a look, silently communicating with each other before turning back to Julia and Camael. Deanna nodded. "If it comes down to it, but hopefully it never will, we'll take care of her."

"Thank you." Camael nodded in relief. If he couldn't save his family as a whole, at least his daughter would be able to go on in a good home.

* * *

Tonight Elizabeth was staying over with the Campbell's, leaving Camael and Julia alone in the house. Camael made his way up the stairs, and as soon as his foot hit the top step,, he sensed that something was very wrong, rushing to the bedroom he shared with his wife, seeing her being held from behind, an angel blade to her throat.

"Uriel?" Camael gasped in shock. "What are you doing?"

"There's a certain way things have to go, Camael."

"How?"

"Help us."

"With what?"

"The end."

"The end?" Camael asked, realization hitting him. "You want to release Lucifer?"

"Yes. Then we can end all of this useless prattle."

"Uriel, think about what you're saying. Billions of people will die."

"Are you saying you'd fight him?"

"Lucifer?"

"Yes."

"Every time."

Uriel sneered, knowing that if Camael fought against Lucifer, the Prince of Darkness would lose again. So with that, he dragged the knife across Julia's throat.

"No!" Camael shouted, dropping to his knees to catch Julia as she hit the floor. He smoothed her hair back, beginning to cry as the life left her eyes. "I'm so sorry, baby. I'm so sorry."

"That's enough."

Camael stood upright, punching Uriel hard across the face. The angel stumbled back, hitting onto the wall. Camael grabbed the collar of his shirt, punching him in the face until Uriel got the upper-hand, twisting Camael so that his back was against the wall before stabbing him in the stomach, letting his body fall to the ground in a heap before disappearing.

* * *

With the news that their friends had in fact been killed, the Campbell's took their daughter Mary and Elizabeth and quickly moved away, finding themselves in Lawrence, Kansas. A few years had passed and now Elizabeth was about eight, her long dark, hair flowing down her back as she refused to cut it

Even though she knew she wasn't their's, the Campbell's never made Elizabeth feel like she wasn't part of the family. She was comfortable with them, she loved them.

At the local park, Elizabeth and Mary were playing while Deanna sat a few feet away, keeping a watchful eye on her girls. Out of the corner of her eye, Elizabeth saw a dark-haired man with piercing blue eyes standing across the park, watching her. She stopped mid-run, staring back at him, but she wasn't afraid, instead she felt a strange calm take over her. Mary called her name, distracting her for a moment and when she looked back, the man was gone.

 _A voice boomed inside Victoria's head as she laid unconscious on the hospital bed. "Will you still call us names when you came from an angel yourself?"_

* * *

 **Big, big, _big_ thanks to bookwriter123456 for helping me come up with this chapter! :)  
**

 **Thanks for reading!  
**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanficion (manips, manips everywhere)**


	5. The End

_Every breaking wave on the shore  
Tells the next one there'll be one more  
And every gambler knows that to lose  
Is what you're really there for  
Summer, I was fearless  
Now I speak into an answer phone  
Like every fallen leaf on the breeze  
Winter wouldn't leave it alone, alone_

 _..._

 _Every sailor knows that the sea_ _  
_ _Is a friend made enemy_  
 _Every shipwrecked soul knows what it is_  
 _To live without intimacy_  
 _I thought I heard the captain's voice_  
 _But it's hard to listen while you preach_  
 _Like every broken wave on the shore_  
 _This is as far as I could reach_

 _..._

 _The sea knows where are the rocks_ _  
_ _And drowning is no sin_  
 _You know where my heart is_  
 _The same place that yours has been_  
 _We know that we fear to win_  
 _And so we end before we begin_  
 _Before we begin_

 _If you go, if you go your way  
And I go mine  
Are we so, are we so helpless against the tide?  
Every dog on this street  
Knows that we're in love with defeat  
Are we ready to be swept off our feet?  
And stop chasing  
Every breaking wave _

_**U2 – Every Breaking Wave**_

* * *

Why did it seem like the shit never stopped? I didn't know what to do anymore, or if there was even anything I could do. Tori laid on the hospital bed in front of me, unconscious once again, hanging on by a thread. I swear, if those angel assholes hurt her permanently, they were gonna pay.

Sighing, I glanced over to Tori, wondering what could possibly be going on in her mind right now. I felt my phone ringing in my pocket, pulling it out, flipping it open. "What's up?"

" _I've located the Colt_." cas muttered.

"What? _The_ Colt?"

" _Yes_."

"Well, that doesn't make any sense. I mean, why would the demons keep a gun around that, uh, kills demons?"

" _What? What? Did- I didn't- I didn't get that_."

"You know, it's kind of funny. Talking to a messenger of God on a cellphone." I chuckled. "It's like watching a Hell's Angel ride a moped."

" _This isn't funny, Dean. The voice says I'm almost out of minutes._ " Cas muttered, his tone completely serious.

"Okay, alright. I'm- I'm telling you, Cas, the mooks have melted down the gun by now."

" _Well, I hear differently. And if it's true and if you are still set on the insane task of killing the devil, this is how we do it._ "

"Okay."

" _I'll be there immediately._ "

I took a breath, shaking my head even though he couldn't see me. "Whoa, whoa. No. No, come on, man. I just brought my unconscious girlfriend to the hospital. Dude, I'm human. I'm- there's stuff I got to do..."

" _What stuff?_ "

"Eat, for example. In this case-" Cry. "-sleep. I just need like four hours once in a while, okay?"

" _Yes_."

"Okay, so, you can pop in tomorrow morning. Hopefully Tori will be up by then."

" _The probability of that is slim._ "

"Thanks, Cas." I grumbled. "I'm going now."

" _Okay_. _I'll just-_ " I hung up the phone, not waiting for him to finish as I slumped back down in the reclining chair.

Before I knew it, I'd drifted off when I heard the faint sound of my phone vibrating against the nightstand. I quickly reached for it, answering without looking to see who it was. "Damn it, Cas, what do you want?

" _Dean, it's me._ "

"Sam?" I sat up, glancing over at the clock. "It's quarter past four."

" _This is important._ " Sam said.

I sighed, listening to Sam speaking on the other end, not sure how to react to what he was telling me. _"_ So, you're his vessel, huh? Lucifer's wearing you to the prom?"

" _That's what he said._ "

"Just when you thought you were out, they pull you back in, huh, Sammy?"

" _So, that's it? That's your response?_ " Sam asked, sounding a little taken-aback.

"What are you looking for?"

" _I don't know. A- a little panic? Maybe?_ "

"I guess I'm a little numb to the earth-shattering revelations at this point." I mumbled, staring over at Tori.

" _What are we gonna do about it?_ "

"What do you want to do about it?"

" _I want back in, for starters._ "

"Sam-"

" _I mean it."_ He interrupted adamantly. " _I am sick of being a puppet to these sons of bitches. I'm gonna hunt him down, Dean."_

"Oh, so, we're back to revenge, then, are we? Yeah, 'cause that worked out so well last time."

" _Not revenge. Redemption."_

"So, what, you're just gonna walk back in and everything's gonna be okay again?"

" _Look, Dean, I can do this. I can. I'm gonna prove it to you._ "

"Look, Sam, it doesn't matter, whatever we do. I mean, it turns out that we're the fire and the oil of the Armageddon. You know, on that basis alone, we should just pick a hemisphere. Stay away from each other for good."

I had to admit, it hurt to say those words. That was never something I thought I'd have to say to my brother.

" _Dean, it does not have to be like this. We can fight it._ " Sam said, his voice strained.

"Yeah, you're right. We can. But not together. We're not stronger when we're together, Sam. I think we're weaker." I paused, taking a breath as I stared down at the bed. "Because whatever we have between us – love, family, whatever it is – they are always gonna use it against us. And you know that. We're better off apart. We got a better chance of dodging Lucifer and Michael and this whole damn thing, if we just go our own ways."

" _Are you gonna say that to Tori_?"

"I can't." I said.

" _What do you mean?"_ Sam asked, worry covering his tone. " _What happened?_ "

"Run in with a shitty archangel. He knocked her out cold."

" _What? Is- is she gonna be okay?_ "

"I don't know." I said, my voice cracking slightly. "Listen, I have to go."

" _Dean, don't do this._ "

"Bye, Sam." I mumbled, snapping the phone shut in anger.

* * *

The sun shined through the window, slowly waking me. I must've fallen asleep in a weird position at some point considering the intense pain in my back. I cracked an eye open, noticing the busted clock.

It wasn't like that last night, right?

As my eyes opened wider, I noticed that Tori was no longer in the room and instead it was empty and completely trashed.

"Tori?" I called, standing to my feet, moving over to the window, looking out to see a decrepit city. I threw my jacket back on, heading out of the room.

I couldn't find a damn soul in the entire building, including Tori, which had me worried. Realizing I wasn't doing any good looking in here, I headed outside where trash laid all over the ground, graffiti covering the walls and abandoned cars everywhere with smashed windows.

The sky was completely overcast. I felt like I'd just stepped into a shitty zombie movie.

Heading down the street, I heard some glass crunching in a nearby alleyway and slowed down as I approached the direction the noise was coming from, peaking around the building, seeing a small girl crouched over a pile of broken glass, a little teddy bear laying on the ground next to her.

"Little girl?" I called, moving towards her. "Little girl? Are you hurt?" She just stood there, staring at the wall. "You know the not talking thing is kind of creepy, right?"

Blood dripped out of her mouth before she let out a loud shriek and picked up a shard of glass. I jumped out of the way as she slashed at my stomach, avoiding injury. She slashed again, and I quickly punched her, knocking her to the ground. I breathed heavily, glancing up to the wall in front of me. Written there in big, red letters was one simple word that told me all I needed to know.

 _Croatoan_

Oh, shit.

The sound of more footsteps approaching echoed through the alley as a group of people rounded the corner, staring at me with severely blood shot eyes. I hurriedly ran in the other direction as they all chased me down the street to a chain-link fence. I stopped, turning back around to face them as they circled me. Loud engines sounded behind me as two tanks drove up to the other side of the fence. I quickly threw myself to the ground as they started firing, shooting the group of people.

As the bullets flew, I made my way to an empty alley across the way and sat for a moment, catching my breath as everything I just witnessed sunk in. I waited until everyone had left before making my way back to the fence.

It didn't take long for me to break through, heading down the street. I didn't have to walk very far before coming up to another fence with a sign on it.

 ** _CROATOAN – VIRUS – HOT ZONE  
NO ENTRY  
BY ORDER OF ACTING REGIONAL COMMAND  
AUGUST 1, 2014_**

* * *

After reading that sign, I scrambled to find a car, hot wiring the first one I saw. As I drove, I pulled out my phone, quickly realizing there was no signal. My only hope was the radio, which seemed to play nothing but static.

"That's never a good sign." I muttered, sighed as I drove down the long stretch of road.

" _Croatoan pandemic reaches Australia._ " I jumped as Zachariah appeared next to me, reading over a newspaper.

"I thought I smelled your stink on this _Back to the Future_ shit."

" _President Palin defends bombing of Houston._ " He read, looking over at me. "Certainly a buyer's market in real estate. Let's see what's happening in sports. That's right, no more sports. Congress revoked the right to group assembly. What's left of Congress, that is. Hardly a quorum, if you ask me."

"How did you find me?"

"Afraid we had to tap some unorthodox resources of late. Human informants. We've been making inspirational visits to the fringier Christian groups. They've been given your image, told to keep an eye out."

"The Bible freak outside the hospital." I said, remembering the man that tried to speak to me about _God's plan for me_ as I brought Tori into the hospital. "He, what, dropped a dime on me?"

"Onward, Christian soldiers."

"Okay, well, good, great. You have had your jollies. Now send me back, you son of a bitch." I gritted my teeth, glaring at him.

"Oh, you'll get back, all in good time. We want you to marinate a bit."

" _Marinate_?"

"Three days, Dean. Three days to see where this course of action takes you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that your choices have consequences. This is what happens to the world if you continue to say no to Michael."

"Where is Tori?"

"In the future or the past?"

"Don't fucking screw me around."

"Still wrapped up in her nice little coma. Don't worry about it."

"I swear, I'm gonna-" I glanced over, watching as he disappeared from my sight.

* * *

 **BOBBY'S HOUSE – NIGHT**

I'd decided to drive to Bobby's house, hoping to find him there. I pulled right in front of the house, rushing inside "Bobby? Bobby, I'm coming in!"

There was no reply. Everything was quiet as I made my way though the house, stepping over all the trash. There was dust everywhere, things littering the floor. Nobody's been here for along time.

My heart sank when I saw Bobby's wheelchair laying on it's side on the ground. I quickly righted it, examining the bullet holes littering the back and the dried blood on the seat. I walked over to the hidden compartment Bobby built into the desk, taking out Dad's journal. Flipping through it, I found a picture of Bobby, Cas and three other men I didn't recognize – all armed. I squinted a bit, reading the small sigh behind them.

I guess that's my best bet.

* * *

 **CAMP CHITAQUA – NIGHT**

After a little bit of digging, I found where to go and made my way to the camp, walking slowly up to the parameters as I spotted a few guys inside patrolling the fence. I moved into the treeline, making sure to way out of their sight. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Baby buried in the thickness of the trees. Every part of her was scratched, rusted and covered in dents.

"Oh, baby, no." I murmured, making my way over to her for a closer look at the damage, peering into the driver's side window to see the leather all torn. "Oh, no, baby, what did they do to you?"

I heard the crunch of leaves behind me, and before I could turn to face the noise, I was knocked to the ground.

* * *

My eyes drifted open as I looked around the neat cabin. Trying to move, I quickly realized my arms were handcuffed to a ladder above my head. I glanced up at the noise across the room seeing...myself.

"What the hell?"

"I should be asking that question, don't you think?" _I_ asked, barely looking up from the gun in _my_ hands. "In fact, why don't you give me one good reason why I shouldn't gank you right here and now?"

"Because you'd only be hurting yourself."

"Very funny."

There was a small knock on the door, to which _I_ got up to answer, opening it slowly as I peered out. I sighed, opening the door all the way. I breathed a sigh of relief as Tori walked into the cabin.

If she's here in the future that means…she's gonna be okay. Right?

Truthfully, I wanted to puss out and cry, but I wasn't about to make myself look like a baby in front of my future self. Tori stepped into the room, her eyes going wide as she stared down at me, looking back and forth between the two of us.

"Wow, you weren't kidding with that whole emergency thing." She mumbled, looking up at my future self as I stared down at her with a raised eyebrow. "What- what is _it_?"

I huffed, leaning forward a bit. "Look, I'm no shapeshifter or demon or anything, okay?"

"Yeah, I know. I did the drill while you were out. Silver, salt, holy water- nothing." My future self muttered, leaning down on the table. "But you know what was funny? Was that you had every hidden lockpick, box cutter, and switchblade that I carry. Now, you want to explain that? Oh, and the, uh, resemblance, while you're at it?"

"Zachariah."

"The angel?" Tori asked.

"I'm from the tail end of two-thousand-nine. Zach plucked me from my bed and threw me five years into the future."

"Where is he?" My future self asked. "I want to talk to him."

"I don't know."

"Oh, you don't know." _I_ said, advancing towards me.

"No, I don't know. Look, I just want to get back to my own fucking year, okay?"

Tori placed a hand on my future self's chest, pushing him back a bit. She whispered something to him with a small shrug before sitting down.

"Okay." Future me nodded, moving to the over side of the table. "If you're me, then tell us something only we would know."

I thought for a moment, trying to think of something only Tori and I would know. A few seconds passed before it hit me and I smirked over at Tori as she rose an eyebrow, her arms crossed over her chest.

"You and I were together for about a year...and uh, we were fooling around and somehow you got me to try on your panties. Remember that?" I asked. Tori snickered, biting her lip as she looked down at the table. I continued, looking back up at myself. "They were red. And satiny. And you know what? We kind of liked it."

Future me glanced back at Tori, nodding as he sat down. "Touché. So, what, Zach zapped you up here to see how bad it gets?"

"I guess." I shrugged. "Croatoan virus, right? That's their endgame?"

"It's efficient, it's incurable, and it's scary as hell." Tori muttered, looking over at me. "Turns people into monsters. It started hitting the major cities about two years ago...the world really went to shit after that."

"What about Sam?" I asked, watching on as they both paused, sharing a look with each other.

"Heavyweight showdown in Detroit. From what I understand, Sam didn't make it." My future self said, cut and dry with a monotone voice. Tori sighed, looking down again as tears began to fill to her eyes.

I shot them an incredulous look. "You weren't with him?"

"No. We haven't talked in- hell, five years."

"We never tried to find him?"

"We had other people to worry about." _I_ muttered, glancing back at Tori for a moment before standing.

"Where you going?" I asked, watching as I headed to the door.

"I got to run an errand."

"Whoa. You're just gonna leave me here?"

"Yes. I got a camp full of twitchy trauma survivors out there with an apocalypse hanging over their head. The last thing they need to see is a version of _The Parent Trap_. So, yeah, you stay locked down."

"Okay. Alright. Fine. But you don't have to cuff me, man. Come on, you don't trust yourself?"

"No. Absolutely not." My future self barked before turning to Tori. "Do not let him out of your sight, okay?"

"I won't." She nodded, a worried look crossing her face, one she tried to hide quickly.

I walked over to her, placing a hand on her hip and she immediately relaxed under my touch. "I'll be back in a couple hours, okay?"

"I know."

My stone cold expression softened soon as her eyes met mine. Even though I'd always felt her calming me, it was a strange thing to see from a perspective other than my own first person. My future self bent down to kiss her. The small smile on her face pulled at my heart strings a little bit, considering I hadn't seen that smile in what felt like forever. I watched from the floor as _I_ walked out of the building

After a few moments, Tori came over and sat down on the floor in front of me. I watched her for a moment before speaking. "You ever worry that I won't come back?"

"All the time." Tori nodded, letting out a sigh.

"I'm glad you're okay."

"What?" Tori asked, realization settling across her features. "Oh. Right. I'm still out of it back in oh-nine, huh?"

"Yeah. Scared the shit out of me. The doctors said you wouldn't make it through."

"I know."

"What- what's happening to you now, back there?"

"I don't think I should tell you that."

"Why not?" I asked, furrowing my brow.

"Because I don't think I should tell you, Dean."

"Is it that bad?"

"I've already had to tell you once before, don't make me do it like, three times." Tori looked away, avoiding answering my question outright. But the way she was acting told me everything. She didn't like to think about it.

"I think my butt's going numb." I complained, wiggling around on the hard floor, trying to change the subject for her benefit. No matter how much I wanted to know, I didn't want to push her to tell me something she wasn't ready to.

Tori rose an eyebrow, shaking her head at me. "I'm not taking those cuffs off."

"Come on, don't you trust me?"

" _You_ don't even trust _you_. Why should I?"

"Because you know me better than I know myself." I grinned. She smiled at me, taking her hair out of the messy bun she had it in. I watched as it fell loose around her shoulders, hanging there with a slight wave as she nervously started playing with the ends. I noticed it had gotten fairly long, flowing way past her chest.

"Stop staring at me." She muttered, glaring at me.

"Stop being so damn beautiful."

"Dean, you were staring at my chest."

"I was looking at your hair." I argued. I mean, hell yeah I was looking at her boobs...but I noticed her hair first. "It's a lot longer than I'm used to right now."

"Yeah, right." Tori rolled her eyes.

"You keep that up, those things are gonna roll right out of your head." I muttered with a light laugh. I could tell she was about to roll them again, but she stopped herself and smirked down at me.

"You're so funny." She mumbled dryly. "Where do you come up with these things?"

"Got a few more for you, but only if you let me out...?" I bribed, shooting her my best persuasive smile.

"No, Dean."

"Why?"

"Because if someone sees...both of you, they'd freak out. Like... _you_ said, these people don't need that right now." She muttered, inching a bit closer to me, placing a hand on my leg. "I wish I could. I don't like seeing you tied up like this...unless I'm the one doing it."

I looked down at her hand on my thigh, feeling the heat of her touch spring through me. "You know, we could pass the time by having a little...fun...?"

She shook her head at me, a small smile on her face. "No!"

"Why not? Not like we'd be doing anything wrong..."

"It'd be a little bit wrong."

"How?"

"What would future you think if future me had sex with past you?" She paused, raising an eyebrow. "And what would past me think if past you and future me had sex?"

"I don't know. I can barely even process that sentence."

"Exactly." She smiled, patting my leg.

"Okay, okay." I sighed, shooting her a smile. A few minutes of silence had passed before I started wiggling around again, not even trying to make her feel bad this time, I really needed to do it so my butt didn't lose all it's feeling.

"Okay." Tori said, standing up in front of me. "I've put a little thought into it and I trust you just enough for me to leave and go get you something to eat. Are you hungry?"

"Starving." I said with a smile, internally praising myself for hiding that paper clip where even _I_ couldn't find it.

"Wait." Tori paused at the door, turning back around, coming over to me again.

"Miss me already?" I asked with a smirk. She crouched down in front of me and pushed her hand towards the back of my pants. "Hey, hey! Thought you said we couldn't do anything like that!"

"Move, Winchester."

"I got nothing."

"I don't believe that." She said, reaching behind me again.

"You know, future you touching my past self's butt does seem a little wrong now that I think about it..."

Tori put her hand on my chest, leaning in slowly. Her lips just inches from mine. It sounded so cheesy, but I wanted so desperately to just close that small gap between us.

Suddenly, she moved back and waved something small in front of my face. "I remembered your bright idea of putting a paper clip on the band of your boxers, Dean."

"Shit." I muttered, looking up at her with a huff.

Tori smiled down at me, placing a light kiss on my cheek. "Guess I do really know you better than you know yourself."

With a huff, I watched as she exited the small cabin, closing the door behind her. I glanced around the room for anything I could use to pick the lock. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a nail sticking out of the floorboard. I grunted, reaching for the nail. Eventually, I pried it out, successfully getting the handcuffs off.

Reaching the door, I opened it and glanced around the large camp before heading down the steps, trying to avoid the gaze of a few people walking around about a yard away. My eyes widened when I spotted Tori heading back to the cabin with a tray of food and quickly hid behind one of the trucks. I spun around at the sound of someone approaching, seeing Chuck standing behind me, a pile of toilet paper in his arms. Glancing back to the cabin, I saw Tori step out with a furious look on her face.

Oh fuck, I'm in trouble.

"Dean, you got a second?" Chuck asked, looking over at me.

"No- yes. Uh, I- I guess." I sputtered. "Hi, Chuck."

"Hi." He nodded, a slightly suspicious look on his face. "So, uh, listen, we're pretty good on canned goods for now, but we're down to next to nothing on perishables and hygiene supplies. People are not gonna be happy about this. So, what do you think we should do?"

"I- I don't know." I muttered, trying to slowly inch further behind the truck so that Tori wouldn't see me.. "Maybe, uh, share? You know, like at a kibbutz."

Chuck sent a weird look my way before his eyes lit up as he looked over my shoulder. "Oh, hey Tori!"

I jumped a bit as I felt her hand clap down on my shoulder, a deadly look in her eyes as she subtly glared up at me.

"Hey Chuck." She said, shooting him a small smile.

"I was just telling Dean th-" Chuck paused, glancing up at me. "Wait a minute, aren't you supposed to be out on a mission right now?"

"Absolutely." I nodded. "And I will be."

"Uh-oh." Chuck muttered, shooting a look at Tori before nodding over my shoulder. I turned around just as a dark-haired woman ran up behind me, throwing a punch.

Tori stood her ground as I moved behind Chuck, trying to get away from the woman. "Whoa! Jeez! Easy, lady!"

" _Risa_." Tori folded her arms, an annoyed look on her face.

"Risa?" I muttered in a questioning tone.

"You spent the night in Jane's cabin last night, didn't you?" Risa asked me.

"Uh, what? I- I don't- did I?" My eyes widened as I looked over at Tori. She shook her head as Chuck tried to subtly hint that Risa was crazy by twirling his finger next to his head, pretending to scratch an itch when she narrowed her eyes at him.

"I thought we had a _connection_."

Tori huffed, her composure finally breaking as she pushed lightly on Risa's shoulders. "Listen, we really don't have time to deal with this right now, Risa."

"I just thought maybe you'd want to know that your _husband_ is sleeping around."

My eyes bugged out of my head at the word husband. When did Tori and I get married?

"Go away, Risa." Tori hissed, glaring down at the woman as she backed away.

"That girl is a hundred different layers of crazy." Chuck said, shaking his head as he stared up at Tori.

"Tell me about it." Tori mumbled, taking a deep breath. "Listen, Chuck, if you could just give Dean and I a minute, I'll help you with whatever's going on after."

"Sure thing." He said, smiling as he passed by us.

"Hey Chuck," I called out, causing him to turn back around. "Is Cas still here?"

"Yeah. I don't think Cas is going anywhere." He muttered, pointing in the direction of Cas's cabin before turning back around.

As soon as he'd gotten out of earshot, Tori smacked me on the back of the head, a disproving glare in her eyes. "I'm so pissed at you right now."

"I know." I muttered, looking down into her hazel eyes.

"If people realized-"

"I know, I know. They'd freak. I get it. But no one has to know." I said. She crossed her arms over her chest, glancing around the camp before looking back up at me.

"Fine. But only for a little bit longer, then you have to go back in that cabin before someone, especially Risa, notices there are two of you. I'm pretty sure she'd implode."

"Fine. Works for me." I nodded, heading to Cas's cabin.

Tori quickly caught up to me, grabbing my arm before I opened the door. "You don't want to go in there right now."

"Why not?"

"Because you don't. Just listen to me, Dean."

Ignoring her, I opened the door, taking a step in. Inside, Cas sat on the floor in a circle with several woman, all of them staring at him like he was everything.

"So, in this way. We're each a fragment of total perception. Just, uh, one compartment in that dragonfly eye of group mind. Now, the key to this total, shared perception. It's, um, it's surprisingly physical." Cas said, as all the women smiled up at him. He glanced up a big smile on his face as he saw Tori and I standing there. "Oh. Excuse me, ladies. I think I need to confer with our fearless leaders for a minute. Why not go get washed up for the orgy?"

As the words left his mouth, I grabbed onto Tori's arm tightly, my eyes widening.

 _Orgy_? What?

"I told you not to come in here." Tori muttered, glancing up at me with a grimace. "At least be thankful they were clothed this time."

"You're all so beautiful." Cas murmured as the women left before making his way over to us with a smile. "Tori, have you decided to join in again?"

My mouth dropped open as I looked back and forth between Tori and Cas. " _Again?_ "

"No, not _again_. Not ever." Tori muttered, glancing up at me before looking back to Cas. "Just because I walked in on your group's _naked_ _spiritual bonding_ thing one time, does not mean I was part of it, Cas."

Cas nodded with a small shrug, looking over at me as he cracked his back. I furrowed my brow, staring down at him in confusion. "What are you, a hippie?"

"I thought you'd gotten over trying to label me." Cas said.

"Cas, we got to talk."

"Whoa." He mumbled, staring up at me with wide eyes. "Strange."

"What?"

"You...are not you. Not _now_ you, anyway."

"No! Yeah. Yes, exactly." I stuttered, not even knowing what I was saying anymore.

"What year are you from?"

"Two-thousand-nine."

"Who did this to you? Is it Zachariah?"

"Yes."

"Interesting." Cas nodded, looking over my shoulder at nothing, seemingly getting lost.

"Oh, yeah, it's fucking fascinating. Now, why don't you strap on your angel wings and fly me back to my page on the calendar?" I asked. Tori made a small noise next to me, shaking her head as I looked over at her.

"I wish I could just, uh, _strap on my wings_ , but I'm sorry, no dice." Cas shrugged. He was acting so unlike himself, and it was thoroughly freaking me the fuck out.

"What, are you stoned?"

A big smile spread across his face. "Uh, generally, yeah."

"What happened to you?"

"Life." He shrugged.

"Okay, I think it's time we go." Tori mumbled, pulling my arm as she made her way to the door. "Have fun, Cas."

"What was he talking about?" I asked once we were outside again.

"Cas isn't-"

"Hey, Tori I hate to bother you, but I really need some help with this." Chuck said, walking up to her side.

Tori glanced up at me, letting out a deep breath. "Just stay here, okay?"

"Sure." I nodded.

"Okay, Chuck, what's the matter?" Tori asked, moving away with him as he started talking about supplies. I waited until they were a good distance away before leaving the spot Tori had left me in.

* * *

Through the thick treeline, I watched my future self climb out of a jeep with a few other men at the entrance to the camp. _I_ grabbed a couple beers, tossing a can to one of the men. Just as he began to drink it, _I_ drew _my_ gun, pointing it at the man.

"Hey. Hey! Watch out!" I yelled out, breaking through the treeline as I watched myself shoot the guy dead.

"Damn it." My future self mumbled just as Tori ran up behind me, her eyes wide and deadly as she glared at me.

My future self glared at her for a moment before letting out a huff, looking at the shocked faces staring between him and I. "I'm not gonna lie to you. Me and him, it's a pretty messed-up situation we got going. But believe me, when you need to know something, you will know it. Until then, we all have work to do."

* * *

As quietly as possible, Tori and my future self hauled me over to a large cabin. Tori shoved me hard into the room as _I_ trailed behind her, a furious look on _my_ face.

"What the hell was that?" He asked, turning to Tori as soon as he shut the door. "I thought I told you to watch him- me- whatever."

"I tried, Dean." Tori snapped. "You didn't listen to me once."

"Well, you should've made me. Because now we got half the camp worried about a clone invasion."

"Oh, well, I'm sorry that you're you're a sneaky, stubborn bastard."

Whoa. We were really going at it.

"Uh, hello?" I asked, interrupting the argument. "Can we please talk about what happened out there? You just shot a guy in cold blood."

"We were in an open quarantine zone. Got ambushed by some Croats on the way out." My future self said. I raised an eyebrow, silently asking for an explanation. "Croats. Croatoans. One of them infected Yeager."

"How do you know?"

"'Cause after a few years of this, I know. I started seeing symptoms about a half an hour ago. Wasn't gonna be long before he flipped. I didn't see the point in troubling a good man with bad news."

" _Troubling a good man_? You just blew him away in front of your own people. Don't you think that freaked them out a little bit?" I asked, looking over at Tori. "Doesn't it bother _you_?"

Tori looked down to the ground with a sigh. "Dean, I don't like it, but this is how things are now."

"Alright, look—"

"No, you look. This isn't your time. It's mine. You don't make the decisions, I do. So, when I say stay in, you stay in." _I_ said, nodding over to Tori. "And when she says stay, you stay."

"Oh, I know to stay when she says stay." I mumbled suggestively, gaining a glare from myself. "Alright, man. I'm sorry. Look, I- I'm not trying to mess you- me- us up here."

"I know." _I_ nodded, pouring three glasses of whiskey.

"It's just been a really wacky weekend."

"Tell me about it."

Tori stood between us at the table, watching with a strange look as we both drank, placing our glasses back down on the table at the same time, a small smirk spreading across her lips. "You know, I've had dreams like this once."

My future self looked over at her with a raised eyebrow, not saying a word as I returned her smirk. "Oh, yeah? Was it good?"

Tori smiled, glancing down at the table. "What do you think?"

I grinned over at her, about to answer when my future self shook his head, not saying anything.

Damn, what happened to me?

"So, what was the mission, anyway?" I asked, watching as Tori looked up at my future self, a silent question in her eyes. My future self nodded down at her, placing a bag on the table in front of us. Without a word, _I_ pulled out the Colt, holding in _my_ hands. "The Colt?"

"The Colt." _I_ nodded.

"Where was it?"

"Everywhere. They've been moving it around. Took me five years, but I finally got it. And tomorrow...I'm gonna kill the devil."

* * *

A little while later, Cas joined us in the cabin so _I_ could go over how we were gonna do this.

"So, how are we gonna find Lucifer?" I asked.

"We don't have to. We know where he is. A demon that we caught last week, he was one of the big guy's entourage. He knew."

"So, a demon tells you where Satan's gonna be, and you just believe it?"

"Oh, trust me, he wasn't lying."

"I'm afraid you're all too well schooled in the art of getting to the truth." Cas mumbled.

"Torture? Oh, so, we're- we're torturing again." I mumbled, gaining a dirty look from myself and Tori. "No, that's- that's good. Classy."

Cas laughed, smiling at me. "I like past you."

"Lucifer is here. Now I know the block and I know the building." _I_ said, pointing to a spot on the large map spread across the table.

"Oh, good, it's right in the middle of a hot zone."

"Crawling with Croats, yeah. You saying my plan is reckless?"

"Are you saying we, uh, walk in straight up the driveway, past all the demons and the Croats, and we shoot the devil?"

"Yes."

"Okay, if you don't like reckless, I could use insouciant, maybe."

"Are you coming?" _I_ spat.

"Of course." Cas nodded, gesturing to me. "But why is he? I mean, he's you five years ago. If something happens to him, you're gone, right?"

"He's coming." My future self said sternly and nobody disagreed.

"Okay. Well, uh. I'll get the grunts moving." Cas sighed, standing up.

"We're loaded and on the road by midnight."

"Alrighty."

I waited until Cas left, looking over at myself. "Why _are_ you taking me?"

"Relax. you'll be fine." _I_ said. "Zach's looking after you, right?"

"No, that's not what I mean. I want to know what's going on."

"Yeah, okay. You're coming because I want you to see something. I want you to see our brother."

Tori glanced down, swallowing hard. I furrowed my brow, watching her reaction. "Sam? I thought he was dead."

"Sam didn't die in Detroit. He said yes."

" _Yes_? Wait. You mean-"

"That's right. The big yes. To the devil. Lucifer's wearing him to the prom."

"Why would he do that?"

"Wish I knew. But now we don't have a choice. It's in him, and it's not getting out. And we've got to kill him, Dean. And you need to see it, the whole damn thing, how bad it gets, so you can do it different."

"What do you mean?"

"Zach said he was gonna bring you back, right? To oh-nine?"

"Yeah."

"Well, when you get back home, you say yes. You hear me?"

"To Michael?"

"Yeah."

"Tell me to say yes." Tori interjected.

"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You have to say yes and you have to tell me to say yes. It's the only way."

"That's crazy. If I let him in, then Michael fights the devil. And I- I don't even know what'll happen to you." I said to Tori. "The battle's gonna torch half the planet."

"Look around you, man. Half the planet's better than no planet, which is what we have now. If I could do it over again, I'd say yes in a heartbeat." My future self said.

"So why don't you?"

"I've tried! I've shouted yes till I was blue in the face! The angels aren't listening! They just- they left, they gave up! It's too late for me, but for you-"

"Oh, no. There's got to be another way."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. I was cocky. Never actually thought I'd lose. But I was wrong. I was wrong. I'm begging you. Say yes." _I_ said before walking away, heading outside.

"Tori-"

"I know." She nodded, looking up at me with tears in her eyes. "You won't. You didn't. And I won't. I didn't. That's just not us, is it?"

* * *

It was nearly midnight, meaning we were about to leave. I headed outside where Chuck was waiting, looking up at me. "So, you're really from oh-nine?"

"Yeah, afraid so." I nodded.

"Some free advice? You ever get back there, you hoard toilet paper. You understand me? Hoard it. Hoard it like it's made of gold. 'Cause it is."

"Thank you, Chuck."

"Oh, you'll thank me, all right. Mark my words."

"I'll see you around."

"Yeah. Okay." Chuck nodded. With that, I got into the passenger seat of the car Cas was driving and we were off. Not too long down the road, I heard some shuffling next to me and glanced over, seeing Cas popping a few pills.

"Let me see those."

"You want some?" He asked, handing me the bottle.

"Amphetamines?"

"It's the perfect antidote to that absinthe."

"Don't get me wrong, Cas. I- I'm happy that the stick is out of your ass, but, what's going on w- with the drugs and the orgies and the love-guru shit?" I asked, watching as he laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Dean, I'm not an angel anymore."

"What?"

"Yeah, I went mortal."

"What do you mean? How?"

"I think it had something to do with the other angels leaving. But when they bailed, my mojo just kind of drained away. And now, you know, I'm practically human. I mean, Dean, I'm all but useless. Last year, broke my foot, laid up for two months."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"So, you're human. Well, welcome to the club."

"Thanks. Except I used to belong to a much better club. And now I'm powerless. I'm hapless, I'm hopeless. I mean, why the hell not bury myself in women and decadence, right? It's the end, baby. That's what decadence is for. Why not bang a few gongs before the lights go out? But then that's just how I roll."

* * *

 **JACKSON COUNTY SANITARIUM – DAY**

Me, myself, Tori and Cas led the way through the streets until we came upon the large building, hanging back a little bit.

"There. Second-floor window. We go in there." My future self said.

"You sure about that?" One of the people behind us asked.

"They'll never see us coming. Now, weapons check. We're on the move in five."

"Hey, uh, me. Can I talk to you for a sec?" I asked, leading myself and Tori over to the side away from the group. "Tell me what's going on."

"What?"

"I know you." I said to Tori before looking to myself. "And I know you. You're lying to these people and to me."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. See, I know your lying expressions." I told them both. "I've seen them right in front of me and I've in the mirror. Now, there's something you're not telling us."

"I don't know what you're talking about." _I_ shrugged.

"Tori?"

"Dean, there's nothing going on."

"Oh, really? Well, I don't seem to be the only member of your posse with some questions, so, uh, maybe I'll just take my doubts over to them."

"Okay, whoa, whoa. Wait." _I_ called.

"What?"

"Take a look around you, man. This place should be white-hot with Croats. Where are they?"

"They cleared a path for us. Which means that this is-"

"A trap." Tori nodded. "Exactly."

"Well, then we can't go through the front."

"Oh, we're not." My future self shook his head, nodding to the group. "They are. They're the decoys. The three of us, we're going in through the back."

"You mean you're gonna feed your friends into a meat grinder? Cas, too?" I asked, looking to Tori.

"We don't have a choice Dean." She muttered, looking away from my gaze.

"You want to use their deaths as a diversion? Oh, man, something is broken in you two. You're making decisions that I would never make, that Tori would never make. We would never sacrifice our friends."

"You're right. It's one of the main reasons we're in this mess, actually." My future self said.

"These people count on you. They trust you."

"They trust me to kill the devil and to save the world and that's exactly what I'm gonna do."

"No. Not like this, you're not. I'm not gonna let you."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah." I nodded, seeing my future self throw a punch before everything went black.

* * *

 **JACKSON COUNTY SANITARIUM GARDEN – DAY**

I woke up on the ground, my eyes fluttering slightly until I heard gunshots in the building. I quickly stood, running towards it, around the side of the building, stopping dead in my tracks at the sight in front of me.

My future self was being held down by his neck underneath a white shoe. My eyes trailed up to see Tori being held by her throat. My eyes drifted over to the face of the person who was doing this, my breath catching in my throat as I saw Sam staring back at me. I flinched at the sound of bones crunching as he snapped _my_ neck.

Tori stared down at _my_ body with wide eyes, a small scream bubbling through her lips. Lucifer turned her face to his with one finger, staring down into her tear filled eyes for a moment with a strange, almost loving expression.

"I wish Camael realized what he could have been if he didn't choose to fall, to become weak. To live and fall in love with...a _human_. He was so much like me in the beginning, until he found Julia. You're so much like he was. So much like _me_. God, what you could've become, if you just let yourself. Instead, you choose to follow _this._ " Lucifer hissed kicking my dead body before looking back to Tori as she whimpered. "I'll give you one last chance. Join me."

"Go to hell." Tori spat through gritted teeth. "No."

"Then I'm sorry, Victoria. My niece, you could've been beautiful."Lucifer murmured, running a finger down her cheek,

Niece?

Lucifer wrapped his hands around her neck and I winced when he quickly snapped her neck, holding her body in his arms for a moment before placing her gently on the ground as he looked over to me. "Oh. Hello, Dean. Aren't you a surprise."

Thunder and lightning crashed around me and before I knew what was happening, Lucifer was behind me. "You've come a long way to see this, haven't you?"

"Well, go ahead. Kill me." I said.

"Kill you? Don't you think that would be a little...redundant? I'm sorry. It must be painful, speaking to me in this...shape. But it had to be your brother. It had to be." He said, reaching to touch my shoulder, but I quickly moved back. "You don't have to be afraid of me, Dean. What do you think I'm going to do?"

"I don't know. Maybe deep-fry the planet?"

"Why? Why would I want to destroy this stunning thing? Beautiful in a trillion different ways. The last perfect handiwork of God. You ever hear the story of how I fell from grace?"

"Oh, good God you're not gonna tell me a bedtime story, are you? My stomach's almost out of bile."

"You know why God cast me down? Because I loved him. More than anything. And then God created... _you_. The little...hairless apes. And then he asked all of us to bow down before you, to love you, more than him. And I said, _Father, I can't_. I said, _these human beings are flawed, murderous_. And for that, God had Michael and Camael cast me into hell. Now, tell me, does the punishment fit the crime? Especially, when I was right? Look at what six billion of you have done to this thing, and how many of you blame me for it."

"You're not fooling me, you know that? With this sympathy-for-the-devil shit. I know what you are."

"What am I?" Lucifer asked, tilting his head to the side.

"You're the same thing, only bigger. The same brand of cockroach I've been squashing my whole life. An ugly, evil, belly-to-the-ground, supernatural piece of shit. The only difference between them and you is the size of your ego." I spat.

"I like you, Dean." He smiled. "I almost get what Victoria saw in you. What the other angels see in you. Goodbye. We'll meet again soon."

"You better kill me now!" I shouted as he turned.

"Pardon?"

"You better kill me now. Or I swear, I will find a way to kill you. And I won't stop."

"I know you won't. I know you won't say yes to Michael, either. And I know you won't kill Sam. Whatever you do, you will always end up here. Whatever choices you make, whatever details you alter, we will always end up here. So, I win."

"You're wrong."

"See you in five years, Dean."

Another bout of thunder and lightning sounded around me and Lucifer was gone. Behind me, Zachariah stood, reaching out to place a finger to my forehead. In the blink of an eye, I was back in the hospital, Tori in place in her bed. I immediately went over to her, placing a hand in her arm.

"She's fine, Dean."

"What the hell did you do to her?"

"You can ask her that when she wakes up."

"Because of you assholes, she might not wake up." I said. Zachariah rolled his eyes, snapping his fingers. Tori's eyes fluttered open next to me and I leaning over, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Baby? Are you okay?" I asked.

Tori glanced up at Zachariah with a strange look in her eyes as he smiled. "How was your power nap?"

"What did you do to her?"

"Nothing. She just needs to process the information she's been given."

"Which was?"

"Her heritage. She can fill you in some more later." Zachariah said. "Now. The time for tricks is over. Listen to yourself, Dean. You saw what happens if you don't. So say yes. Before Lucifer gets to Sam. Before billions die."

" _Before Lucifer gets to Sam_?" Tori asked, glancing up at me. "What?"

"Sam is- Sam is Lucifer's vessel." I explained. Tori's face paled as she stared straight ahead.

"You need to say yes, too Victoria. The time for games is over."

"And what exactly am I saying _yes_ to?"

"Your grandfather's grace. You take it, become powerful enough to give Lucifer the kick alongside Michael just like Camael did all those years ago."

"What?" I asked, furrowing my brow.

"Give yourself to Michael." Zachariah said to me. "Say yes and we can strike."

I shared a long look with Tori, the both of us silently agreeing as Tori stood up. I held her to my side, shaking my head. "Nah."

" _Nah_? You're telling me you haven't learned your lesson? Either of you!?"

"Oh, I've learned a lesson, alright."

"Me too." Tori nodded. "Just not the one you wanted to teach."

"Well, I'll just have to teach it again! Because I got you now, and I'm never letting you-"

Suddenly, we were out of the room, standing on a sidewalk beside Cas. I smiled. "That's pretty nice timing, Cas."

"We had an appointment." Cas said simply.

"Don't ever change."

"Are you alright, Victoria?"

"Was all of that- was it true? Camael-"

"Yes. He's your grandfather."

"Then, no." She shook her head. "I'm not okay at all."

"What happened?" I asked, still unsure if I had heard all of this right.

"My grandfather's an archangel."

I stared blankly at her for a moment, hearing Cas begin to speak again. "How did Zachariah find you?"

"Long story." I mumbled. "Let's just stay away from Jehovah's Witnesses from now on, okay?"

"What are you doing?" Tori asked as I pulled my phone out.

"Something I should have done in the first place."

* * *

 **ROAD – DAY  
** TPOV

The past three days that were spent locked up inside of my head watching a movie of my grandfather's life fucked me up, for lack of a better way to put it. There were still so many questions floating around in my head, and while I wanted to ask Cas, I figured I'd hold off because I'd gotten too many answers I didn't ask for crammed into my brain. Especially after Dean had told me what he'd seen in the future.

All I needed to know right now was that I was back with Dean, my feet were on solid ground and like my grandfather, I never, _ever_ had to say yes. Dean held me to his side as we waited by the Impala for Sam to show up.

Not too long later, a car pulled up and Sam got out, making his way over to us, looking nervous.

"Sam." Dean called, pulling out Ruby's knife, holding it out to his brother. "If you're serious and you want back in...you should hang on to this. I'm sure you're rusty." Sam took the knife, not able to meet our eyes. "Look, man, I'm sorry. I don't know. I'm whatever I need to be. But I was wrong."

"What made you change your mind?" Sam asked.

"Long story. The point is maybe we are each other's Achilles heel. Maybe they'll find a way to use us all against each other, I don't know. I just know we're all we've got. More than that. We keep each other human."

I nodded, smiling up at Sam, who looked as though he was about to break into tears. "Thank you. Really. Thank you. I won't let you down."

"Oh, I know. I mean, you are the third-best hunter on the planet."

Sam nodded. "So, what do we do now?"

"We make our own future."

And with that, Lucifer's vessel, Michael's vessel and the granddaughter of an ex-archangel got into their car, ready to make their own future.

* * *

 **Three chapters in a row, woo!**

 **As always, thanks for reading. I hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought in a review!**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79 (updates!)  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanficion (manips galore) **


	6. Fallen Idols

_Make me over_  
 _I'm all I wanna be_  
 _A walking study_  
 _In demonology_  
 _..._

 _Look at my face_  
 _My name is might have been_  
 _My name is never was_  
 _My name's forgotten_  
 _..._

 _You better watch out_  
 _What you wish for_  
 _It better be worth it_  
 _So much to die for_  
 _..._

 _You want a part of me?_  
 _Well, I'm not selling cheap_  
 _No, I'm not selling cheap_

 ** _Hole - Celebrity Skin_**

* * *

Today was the first hunt we were going on since Sam had come back, and I was happy to see that Dean was no longer looking over at his brother with paranoid eyes every two seconds. He finally trusted him again. Looking out the window, I thought back to the conversion I had with Sam and Dean about what I saw while I was unconscious. Sam's reaction was full of shock, while Dean just stared at the ground, not saying anything. I felt both of those emotions, so it didn't trouble be that they reacted that way.

We all came to the conclusion that the angels had showed me that to scare me into saying yes. Camael had said no so many times and ended up dead. But I saw the oppisite. I saw a reason to fight against the angels, to fight against whatever Lucifer wanted to use me for. I had Sam and Dean, I had their strength to back me, and they had mine. I'd rather die than be somebody's puppet.

"So, what's with this job again?" Sam asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Dude suffers a head-on collision in a parked car? I'd say that's worth checking out." Dean said.

"Yeah, definitely." Sam laughed nervously, his eyes darting between Dean and I. "But, uh, we got bigger problems, don't you think?"

"I'm sure the apocalypse will still be there when we get back." I joked, leaning forward.

"Right, yeah, but I mean, if- if the Colt is really out there somewhere-"

"Hey, we've been looking for three weeks, we got bupkis." Dean said, shaking his head.

"Okay. But...I mean, if we're gonna...ice the Devil-"

"This is what we're doing!" Dean exclaimed. "Okay? End of discussion." Sam looked away with a sigh, staring out of the window. "It's just that this is our first real case, back at it together. You know, I- I think we should ease into it, put the training wheels back on."

"So you think I need training wheels."

"No, _we_. We need training wheels, the three of us. As a team. Okay?"

"Right." I nodded.

Sam let out a heavy breath. "Okay."

"Man, I really want this to be a fresh start, you know? For all of us." Dean said.

"Okay."

* * *

 **CANTON, OHIO – DAY  
Sheriff's department **

"Agents Bonham, Copeland and Reed." Dean announced as the three of us held up our badges to the sherriff.

"Rick Carnegie." The man nodded, shaking our hands. "Good to know ya. So you're here on account of Cal Hawkins' death?"

"That's right." I nodded.

"Well, I'm afraid you came a long way for nothing. We already booked the guy that did it."

"I'm sorry, who do you think did it?"

"We have video evidence. Come on, I'll show you." Carnegie said, leading the three of us into an interview room, picking up a remote as sat down, playing the video.

" _Cal? Is something wrong?_ " The man behind the camera spoke as he walked into the garage, letting out a loud gasp when he saw his friends head smashed into the windshield. " _Oh my God, Cal. Cal!_ "

"Sicko taped his own handiwork." Carnegie said, shaking his head as the video cut to static and shut off.

"I don't follow." Sam muttered.

"It was Jim Grossman that killed Cal."

"Wait, what?" Dean asked, glancing over at me.

"Well, he was the only one on the scene for miles."

"They were best friends." Sam pointed out.

"Most violent crimes are committed by someone close to the victim."

"And how exactly did Jim slam Cal into a windshield with all the force of an eighty-mile-per-hour crash?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

The sheriff blinked a few times, shrugging shoulders. "Drugs, maybe?"

"Seriously?"

"Look, you know this ain't brain surgery. Whatever it looks like, that's what it usually is. It's simple."

"Simple. Right." Dean muttered, glancing over his shoulder at Sam with an eye roll.

"Right." Sam nodded. "Um, if you don't mind, we'd like to speak to Jim Grossman anyway."

* * *

"I was in the house when it happened, I didn't even see it." Jim Grossman muttered, sitting across from us in his holding cell.

"For argument's sake, say we believe you." I muttered, leaning down on the table

"Why would you? The cops didn't."

"Well we're not your typical cops."

"Please, just tell us what you saw." Sam said.

"It's not what I saw, it's what I heard. Tires squealing, glass breaking." Jim sighed, shaking his head. "It was the car that did it."

"The car?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean, I heard about the curse, but, I just thought it was a load of crap.

"Curse, what do you- what do you mean, curse?" Dean asked, taking a step froward.

"The car. _Little Bastard_."

My mouth dropped open as I glanced back at Dean, seeing a similar look of astonishment on his face. "Li- Little Bastard? As in _the_ Little Bastard?"

"Wait, wait, what's _Little Bastard_?" Sam asked.

"It's James Dean's car." I explained. "It's the one he was killed in."

"Yeah, that's the one." Jim nodded. "Cal had been looking for it for years. I mean, hell, we both had. But he found it first."

Dean leaned in closer to me. "Oh, we are definitely checking this out."

* * *

 **GARAGE – DAY**

The sunlight streamed in through the few windows in the garage where the car was being held, the windshield still broken and bloodstained. Sam stood next to me by the front of the car, the both of us watching Dean walk around the car, staring at it with absolute admiration. I had to admit, I was a little bit awe-struck too. Sure it was just a car, but it was _James Dean_ 's car.

If this was even the real car, that is. I had my doubts.

"So, what, this is like Christine?" Sam asked from his spot next to me.

"Christine is fiction." Dean said. "This- this is real."

"Okay." Sam nodded, glancing over at me. "Enlighten me."

"Well after James Dean died, his mechanic bought the wreckage, and he fixed it up." I said.

"And it repaid him by falling on him." Dean finished. "And Tony McHenry was killed when it locked up on the racetrack."

"Death follows that car around like exhaust. Nobody touches it and comes away in one piece."

"Huh." Sam muttered, staring over at the car.

"Then, in nineteen-seventy, it vanished off the back of a truck. Nobody's ever seen it since." Dean said. "I'm telling you, man, if this- if this car is Little Bastard, I will bet you dollars to donuts it's what killed the guy."

"So how do we find out?"

"Cal matched the VIN number, but the only real way to know is the engine number."

"I'm guessing the engine number-"

"On the engine. Yeah." Dean nodded, going across the garage to grab a roller board.

"Dean, are you sure about this?" I asked.

"No."

"You want me to do it?" Sam asked, glancing over at Dean.

"No, no, I've- I've got it." Dean mumbled, cautiously walking up to the car. "Okay, baby. I'm not gonna hurt you, so...don't hurt me."

Slowly, Dean laid down down on the roller board, placing the pencil in his mouth before going underneath the car. My eyes widened as the car shuddered slightly.

Sam quickly laid down on the ground, peaking underneath the car. "Need a flashlight?"

"No. Don't do anything, just go away."

"You- uh, okay."

"Don't speak. Alright? In fact, don't even look at her, she might not like it."

Sam stood back up next to me and the two of the waited for what felt like forever for Dean to finish. Eventually, he rolled back out, looking much more pale than before, handing a piece of paper to Sam.

"Find out who owned it. Not just the last owner, you gotta take it all the way back to nineteen-fifty-five."

"That's a lot of research."

"Well, I guess I just made your afternoon." Dean grinned at his brother, patting him on the shoulder.

* * *

 **MOTEL – DAY**

"Can you believe it? I'm still in shock." Dean muttered, throwing the car keys down on the table.

"Do you really think it's the real _Little Bastard_ , Dean? I mean, what are the chances that some random dude in Ohio finds and buys James Dean's long lost car?" I asked.

"I don't know, but I'd bet my life on it."

"Don't say that." I muttered, shaking my head as I walked up to him. "I don't want any of us betting our lives on anything anymore."

"Yeah." Dean smiled, pulling me to him. "You know, Sam's gonna be gone for a little while..."

"Yeah, probably." I smirked. "Why? Did you have something in mind that we could do?"

"I was thinking of a few things."

Dean smiled, kissing me passionately, his hands on my hips as I wrapped my arms around his neck. Moving back as we kissed, the back of my knees it the bed and Dean lifted me up, placing me down, running his hands over my body, kissing down my chest and to my stomach. Looking up at me with a smirk as I squired under his touch, Dean unbuttoned my pants, sliding them down my legs with my underwear, placing kisses on my hip bones as he did so. I pulled my shirt off, rubbing my hands through Dean's hair as his face rested between my legs, his arms wrapped around the tops of my thighs. I moaned in pleasure, feeling myself falling over the edge when Dean stopped, making his way up my body.

"Why do you do this to me?" I panted, smiling at him as he kissed me deeply.

Reaching down, I unbuttoned Dean's pants, helping him slide them off before pushing him onto his back, straddling his hips, guiding him into me. The both of us moaned at the feeling. I moved my hips back and forth as Dean sat up a bit, his hand on the small of my back, placing a loving kiss on my lips. I held onto the tops of his shoulders, throwing my head back as the pleasure took over, my orgasm shaking through my entire body. It didn't take long for Dean to follow along, spilling inside of me.

"Fuck." I breathed, resting my head on his chest when he collapsed back onto the bed.

"Tell me about it."

After a few moments, I moved next to Dean, laying on my back beside him as he rolled over on his side, placing a kiss on my temple. I closed my eyes, feeling the peaceful moment wash over me when suddenly, Dean's phone started to ring.

"Yeah?" Dean answered, trying to control his breathing as he put the phone on speaker. It was Sam.

" _Hey. Took me a while, but I traced all the car's previous owners_."

"Any of them die bloody?"

" _Nope. In fact-_ " Sam paused. " _Dean, why are you breathing like that, what happened?_ "

"Uh, I-"

" _Oh, I- god, did you and Tori go back to the motel?_ " Sam asked, not waiting for a response before continuing. " _You two are fooling around while I've been working my ass off here?_ "

"Hey, world's smallest violin, pal, I spent the afternoon up Christine's skirt." Dean argued. "We just needed some time."

" _Actually, you didn't._ "

"Meaning?"

" _The car's first owner was a cardiologist in Philadelphia; drove it 'til he died in nineteen-seventy-two._ "

"So you're saying?"

" _That Porsche is not, nor has it ever been, James Dean's car. It's a fake Little Bastard._ " Sam announced. I placed my hand on Dean's chest as his face fell a little at the news.

"Well then what was it that killed the guy?" I asked.

" _Good question._ "

* * *

 **HOUSE – DAY**

The three of us stepped into the living room of the large, mansion-like home where another mysterious death had occurred, being careful around the police tape. Sheriff Carnegie stood in the middle of the room, speaking to two cops as we walked up to him.

"I want you to use a- a fine-tooth comb. The evidence is here, we just gotta find it."

"Heard you got another weird one." Dean said as Carnegie turned around, a surprised look on is face.

"Uh, well, it's a- it's a little strange on the surface, I admit, but, uh...you know, once you- you look at the facts..."

"William Hill died from a gunshot wound to the head. No gun, no gunpowder, no bullet." I said, tilting my head to the side in question.

Dean shrugged shaking his head. "Nope. Nothing strange about that."

"Well there's gotta be a reasonable explanation. There always is."

"Well what's your reasonable explanation?"

Carnegie glanced around the room before leaning in towards us. "Professional killer."

"Come again?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, _CIA_ , _NSA_ , one of them trained assassins, like in _Michael Clayton_."

"Right." Dean muttered, glancing over at Sam and I with wide eyes.

"You're welcome to look around, but- but these guys don't leave fingerprints."

"Mind if we talk with the witness?" Sam asked.

"Be my guest. She's not making any sense! And she's not making any sense in Spanish either."

"...right. Okay." I nodded.

* * *

Once Carnegie told us where the witness was, we made our way along the side of the house to find a dark-haired woman sitting on a bench, frantically speaking to a cop in Spanish about just wanting to go home.

"Consuela Alvarez?" Dean asked, as we walked up to her.

"Yes?"

"FBI." Dean said, as the police officer left. "Now, uh, you said you saw something in the professor's house. Right? Something in the window?"

"Estaba sacando la basura. Imiré por la ventana y vi al hombre que mató al Señor Hill!"

Sam and Dean exchanged glances, looking to me for answers. It was times like this I felt very fortunate that Rose taught me how to speak Spanish.

"Señora Alvarez, cálmese, por favor. Díganos lo que vio." I sat down next to her, telling her to calm down, asking if she could tell us what she saw.

"Nice." Dean grinned down at me.

I rolled my eyes at him at his Spanish kink. "Not the time, Dean."

"Era alto. Muy alto. Y llevaba el abrigo negro largo y tenía bigotes." She muttered.

"Okay, a tall man, very tall." I said, looking up at Dean and Sam. "With a long black coat and a- a beard?"

Consuela nodded quickly, looking relieved that someone was finally listening to her. "Y un sombrero."

"Dude was wearing a sombrero?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow.

I shook my head. "No, a hat-"

"No, un sombrero alto." Consuela said.

"A tall hat." I translated, looking up at the boys.

Dean nodded. "Oh, like a top hat."

"Un sombrero alto." Consuela said, gesturing high above her head with her hand. "Muy alto!"

"You mean like a- like a stovepipe hat."

"Sí."

"Oh yeah, like Abraham Lincoln."

"Sí! El Presidente Lincoln." Consuela started sobbing into her hands. I glanced up at Sam and Dean with confused eyes, looking back down to Consuela.

"Abraham Lincoln killed William Hill?" Sam asked, looking down at her as she cried again, nodding.

"S-so I go home now?" Consuela asked cautiously, looking over at me.

"Oh si. Gracias señorita Álvarez." I said, thanking her. The three of us watched on as Consuela left, heading over to one of the cops across the way. "Abraham Lincoln? What the hell?"

"I don't know." Both boys replied at the same time, shaking their heads.

* * *

 **MOTEL – DAY**

Back at the motel, I sat next to Sam, reading a book while he typed away on his computer. Across the table, Dean was replaying the video of Cal's death on his laptop, going over it again and again until I heard him mutter. "Whoa."

"What?" I asked, glancing up at him from the book in my lap.

"It's a freeze-frame from Jim Grossman's video." Dean said, turning the laptop to face Sam and I. "Am I crazy, or does that look like James Dean?"

My eyes widened as I took in the reflection of a red jacket in the car. "That looks like James Dean."

"So we got Abraham Lincoln, _and_ James Dean?" Dean asked, turning the laptop back in front of him.

"Famous ghosts?"

"Maybe."

"Well that's just silly."

"Well, famous people have to die sometime, too, Dean." I shrugged, resting my head in my hand.

"Actually there is a ton of lore on famous ghosts. More than the, you know, not-famous kinds." Sam said. "I'm actually surprised we haven't run into one before."

"Yeah, but now we got two of them?" Dean asked. "Two extremely pissed-off ghosts?"

"Who are apparently ganking their fans."

"What do you mean?"

"Professor Hill was a Civil War nut. He dug Lincoln."

"And Cal must've been a James Dean freak. I mean, he spent seventeen years of his life tracking down the guy's car." I said.

"So you're saying we've got two super-famous, super-pissed-off ghosts killing their...super-fans?" Dean asked incredulously.

"That's what it looks like." Sam shrugged.

"Well, that is muchos loco."

" _Muy_." I grinned over at him, watching at he looked up at me. "Not _muchos._ "

"Say that again." Dean smirked.

Sam shook his head quickly. "Please, for the love of- don't."

I smiled at Sam as Dean rolled his eyes. "Okay, well, the big question is, what the hell are they doing here?"

"Yeah. Ghosts usually haunt the places they live. I mean, I- I get Abraham Lincoln at the White House and James Dean at a race track, but what the hell are they doing in Canton, Ohio?"

"You gotta be kidding me." Sam mumbled, staring at his screen. I glanced up to look at it, reading the script out loud, with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me."

* * *

 **WAX MUSEUM – DAY**

The museum was rather empty, and by rather empty, I mean completely empty. There was no one here. It was almost like a ghost town. I'd be lying if I said the figures didn't creep me out a little bit. It was like taxidermy, but with people. I walked past John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, on my way to Abraham Lincoln with Sam.

"Dude, he's short." I heard Dean say from behind us, turning to see him standing near a figure of Ghandi.

"Hey. Gandhi was a great man." Sam defended.

"Yeah, for a Smurf."

"Dean." I smiled, shaking my head at him.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, this is our busiest time of the year." The owner apologized, walking over to us. I shared a look with Dean, glancing around the empty room.

"This is busy?" Dean asked, walking over to us with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, not right now, but it's early."

"It's four-thirty." I pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"So, what can I do for you?" The owner asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Uh, well, we are writing a piece for _Travel Magazine_." Sam said.

"Yeah, on how totally non-sucky wax museums are." Dean smiled.

"That's fantastic." The man nodded. "A little press, just what we need."

"Great." I smiled. "Well we're interested in a few of your exhibits, specifically Abraham Lincoln and James Dean."

"Two of our most popular displays."

"So they bring in a lot of visitors?"

"Yeah, we have our regulars."

"I don't suppose that William Hill and Cal Hawkins were regulars, were they?" Dean asked.

"As a matter of fact, they were. Yeah, I heard what happened to them. It's tragic, just tragic." He shook his head, his eyes going wide. "You- that's not gonna be in the article, is it?"

"No. No, no." Sam said. "Of course not."

"You know, I gotta tell you, that- that Lincoln is so lifelike, I mean, you can just imagine him moving around." Dean pressed. "You ever see anything like that?"

The owner furrowed his brow. "Uh...no."

"No?"

"Well, um, is there anything you could think of that would make your museum...unusual?" Sam asked. "You know, for the article?"

"Well, I'll say. There isn't another place like us, not anywhere."

I nodded. "How so?"

"Well, for one, that's Honest Abe's real hat."

"It is?"

"Almost like his remains." Dean muttered, glancing over at me.

"Uh, I guess?" The owner mumbled.

"You wouldn't happen to have any of James Dean's belongings, would you?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. Got his keychain. We got a bunch of stuff. Gandhi's bifocals, FDR's iron lung. This." The owner said with a smile, gesturing to the leather jacket he was wearing.

"And who did that belong to?"

"The Fonz. Seasons two through four!" The owner smiled, doing a double thumbs up with a grin.

"W-wow. Yeah, that's- that's really cool.." I mumbled with a smile, trying to hide my sarcastic tone.

"This? This is nothing. I've been working on a new collection of figures. Stuff that'll really wow the kids."

"The kids?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, Gen Y." The owner nodded. "Computer games, cell phones, _sexting_." Dean raised an eyebrow, glancing down at me with a smirk. I stared straight ahead, trying to remain somewhat professional as the grin tugged on the sides of my lips. "They're just fads. I'm gonna make wax museums hip again."

* * *

 **MOTEL – NIGHT**

Leaning on the bumper of the Impala, I took the shotgun Sam handed me, loading it some rock salt shells while he loaded another.

"So, how are you feeling Sam?"

"You mean do I want another hit of demon blood?" Sam asked, barely glancing up at me.

"No, that's not that I meant." I said, my voice hard. "Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Stop assuming that's what I'm thinking of all the time."

"It isn't?"

"No. I'm sorry, I'm a little more preoccupied with the end of the world."

"The end of the world that I started."

"Sam, it was a group effort, okay? We all had part in this. The angels, especially."

"You really don't blame me?" Sam asked, glancing up at me with sad eyes.

"No, Sam. I don't blame you." I said, shooting him a small smile before placing the shotgun back in the trunk. Come on, lets' go get Dean."

As we entered, I heard Dean talking on the phone, facing away from the door. "Yeah, Abraham Lincoln and James Dean, can you believe that? Why so kill-crazy? Maybe the apocalypse has got them all hot and bothered. Yeah, well, we all know whose fault that is...well I'm sorry, but it's true."

Hearing that, I slammed the door shut, alerting Dean to our presence.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, a frown on his face, looking to the ground as his brother quickly snapped the phone shut.

"Did you get the trunk packed up?"

"Yeah, trunk's packed. Who was on the phone?"

"Bobby."

"We're just gonna pretend I didn't hear what I just heard?"

"Pretend or don't pretend. Whatever floats your boat."

"This was supposed to be a fresh start, Dean."

"Well, this is about as fresh as it gets." With that, Sam nodded once, turning to head back out into the parking lot. I shook my head at Dean, who threw his arms out to the side. "What?"

"Just so you know, you're kind of being a dick." I said, turning and leaving the room without another word.

* * *

 **WAX MUSEUM – NIGHT**

As we made our way through the dimly lit museum, armed with rock salt loaded shotguns. I carried a trash can to put the items in so we could burn them later, watching Dean as he went over to Lincoln, picking up his hat, placing it on his head, beginning to do a bad impression of the president.

" _Four score and seven years ago, I had a funny hat_." Dean said, shooting me an expectant smile. Still upset with him from before, I didn't laugh, instead stepping up to his side, hitting the back of his head so the hat would fall off and into the bin. "Ow!"

"Oh, sorry." I mumbled unapologetically.

"No you're not. We can't have any fun with this?"

"Listen, let's just burn these things, get rid of the ghosts and leave, okay?"

"I'll go grab _East of Eden'_ s keychain." Dean huffed, moving past me and into the other room where James Dean's figure was.

Just as Dean disappeared into the room, the double doors shut, separating us. I ran over, trying to get them open. "Dean?"

My breath condensed in front of my face just as I heard the clank of something hitting the floor a few feet away, and turned to see Sam's gun sliding over and Ghandi leaping onto his back, wrapping his arms around his neck, choking him. "Tori!"

"Oh my god!" I breathed, rushing over to the Ghandi wax figure, grabbing the glasses off, dropping them into the trash can as Dean burst through the doors.

"Is that Ghandi?"

"Yes! Give me the lighter fluid!" I shouted. Dean tossed it to me and I quickly squirted it into the can, dropping a lit match in. Ghandi's spirit disappeared from around Sam's neck and he gasped for air.

"Damn, he's squirrelly. You couldn't have been a fan of someone cool?" Dean asked. Sam glared at his brother, swallowing hard.

* * *

 **MOTEL – DAY**

Once we got back to the motel, I grabbed a few of our clothes from one of the drawers, handing them to Dean, who placed them into the bag on the bed, letting out a sigh as he did so. Just as Dean was about to open his mouth to say something, Sam came out from the bathroom, zipping up his toiletries bag.

"Hey, I was thinking...didn't it strike you as strange the way Gandhi just...vanished?"

"Strange how?" Dean asked.

"No screaming, no big flame-out, I mean, that isn't the way ghosts usually go."

"Still, she torched. He vanished."

"Yeah, but I-" Sam sighed. "I feel like he was...trying to take a bite out of me."

"A bite?" I asked.

"Yeah, like he was hungry. But the thing is, Gandhi – or, the real Gandhi – he was a-" Sam paused, hesitating.

"A what?" Dean pressed. "Spit it out."

"He was a fruitarian."

Dean stared at his brother for a moment before letting out a laugh. "Let me get this straight. Your ultimate hero was not only a short man in diapers, but he was also a _fruitarian_?"

"That's not the point."

"That is good. That is- even for you, that is good."

"Look, I'm just saying, I'm not so sure this thing is over."

"It was a ghost." Dean threw his arms out to the side. "It was a weirdly super-charged fruitarian ghost, but it was still a ghost. Now let's go."

"So first you drag me into town, and now you're dragging me back out?"

"You ain't steering this boat. Let's go, chop chop." Dean said, picking up his bag, moving to the door. I raised an eyebrow at him, not moving from my spot.

"You know, this isn't gonna work." Sam muttered.

"You're the one that wanted back in, chief."

"And you're the one who called me back in."

"I still think we got some trust building to do."

"How long am I gonna be on double-secret probation?"

Dean shrugged. "Till I say so."

"Look. I know what I did. What I've done. And I am trying to climb out of that hole, I am, but you're not making it any easier."

"So what am I supposed to do, just let you off the hook?"

"No. You can think whatever you want. I deserve it, and worse. Hell, you'll never punish me as much as I'm punishing myself, but the point is, if we're gonna be a team, it has to be a two-way street."

"So we just go back to the way we were before?"

"No, because we were never that way before. Before didn't work. How do you think we got here?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Dean, one of the reasons I went off with Ruby...was to get away from you." Sam said, catching me off guard. I furrowed my brow, shooting him a confused look. "It made me feel strong. Like I wasn't your kid brother."

"Are you saying this is my fault?" Dean asked incredulously.

"No, it's my fault. All I'm saying is that, if we're gonna do this, we have to do it different, we can't just fall into the same rut."

"What do you want me to do?"

"You're gonna have to let me grow up, for starters."

Just then, Dean's phone rang and he answered it. "Yeah? Yeah. Yeah, okay."

"What happened?" I asked after he hung up, glancing to Sam.

"I guess you were right about this not being over."

* * *

 **SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT – DAY**

Back in our FBI suits, we walked into the sheriff's department, heading straight over to Carnegie's desk. He there, his head in his hands, looking troubled.

"Sheriff Carnegie?" I called, getting his attention. "What happened?"

"I, uh- I don't know." He shrugged, indicating to an interview room where two young women sat at the table, crying. I shared a look with Sam and Dean, the three of us heading into the room.

"Excuse us, girls? Hi, we're with the FBI." Dean said.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Sam asked.

"It was horrible!" The blonde muttered.

"Way horrible." The brunette added.

"What was horrible?" I asked.

The blonde cried. "I thought she'd be nice! I still can't believe it."

"Believe what?" Dean questioned.

"She took Danielle!" The brunette exclaimed.

"Who?"

"It's okay, you're safe, just, tell us." Sam said. "Who took your friend?"

"It was...Paris Hilton." The blonde muttered.

I stared blankly at the girls, blinking a few times. "Excuse me?"

"She looked really good, though." The brunette said.

"Skinny!" Her friend added.

"Skinny and fast."

"Wait, what- huh?" Dean asked, looking confused. I imagined our expressions were rather similar at the moment.

"Where did they go?" Sam asked.

"We don't know." The blonde shrugged. "They just vanished."

"Would you excuse us for just a minute?" Dean asked, leading Sam and I back out of the room. "Paris Hilton's not dead as far as we know, right?"

"I don't think so, no." I said.

"Which means it's not a-"

"Ghost." Sam finished. "No."

"So, what? Paris Hilton is a homicidal maniac-"

"Or we missed something."

* * *

 **CORONER OFFICE WAIT ROOM – DAY**

Sam went in to check on the bodies by himself, leaving Dean and I alone in the wait room, sitting next to each other on the small bench. Dean kept moving around, switching his leg positions over and over again.

"Dean, what?"

"What?" He asked innocently.

"You're twitchy.

"No I'm not."

"Yeah, you are. What is you problem?"

"Are you still mad at me?" Dean asked, to which I shrugged. "A shrug?"

"Dean, I told you how I felt-"

"You think I'm being a dick."

"Because you _are_ being a dick. You trust Sam, you don't trust him. You forgive him, you don't forgive him. You tell him to come back and then call Bobby to gossip about how it's all Sam's fault the world is ending."

"Well-"

"I swear to God, I will punch you, Dean."

"Oh, so it's okay that Sam said he went off with Ruby because of me?"

"No, of course not. That was shitty. But I think he knows it now."

"Sure."

"You listen to me Dean Winchester, you need to get your shit together if you want the three of us to make it out of this in one piece." I said fiercely. "We all need to pull our heads out of our asses and be there for each other before we end up getting each other killed."

Dean didn't say anything, but I could tell my words struck a chord as he sat back, looking down to the floor. Sam excited the hallway then, making his way over to us as we stood. "I can't believe I missed it."

"Missed what?" I asked as we headed outside to the Impala.

"Went back over the other two vics. There was blood loss. Major."

"Oh, well, being a gory smear will do that to you." Dean said.

"No, I mean more blood loss than a- a car crash or a head wound should cause, almost like it-"

"Something's feeding."

"Yeah."

"Awesome."

"And then there were these." Sam said, holding up a plastic bag containing two small objects. Dean took the bottom corner of the bag as Sam held it, inspecting the items.

"What are those? Seeds?" I asked.

"Yeah." Sam nodded. "They were in both vics' bellies."

Quickly, Dean ripped his hand off the bag, disgust on his face. "I hope you washed your hands."

"They're unlike any seed I've ever seen before."

"Wow, just when I thought you couldn't get any geekier." Dean said, getting into the driver seat of the Impala. I shook my head at him, patting Sam on the shoulder before going into the backseat.

* * *

 **MOTEL – DAY**

The sun was just about ready to set by the time we'd gotten back to the motel. Sam immediately went to his laptop, ready to try and find out what those seeds are. I stared at the bag as it laid on the table, a grimace on my face.

"Yahtzee." Sam said suddenly.

"Did you find it already?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah, th-

"Nerd." Dean called from across the room.

Sam ignored his brother, continuing to speak. "The seeds aren't from around here. In fact, they're not from any tree or plant in the country."

"Then where are they from?"

"Eastern Europe. From a forest in the Balkans, which is not even there anymore. It was chopped down, like, thirty years ago."

"So?" Dean asked.

"So, local legend has it that the forest was guarded by a pagan god whose name was Leshi. A mischievous god, could take on infinite forms-"

"And let me guess. He liked to munch on his fans."

"Yup." Sam chuckled. "Could be appeased only with the blood from his worshippers. It would drain them, then stuff their stomachs with the seeds."

"So how is he doing it? What, he touches James Dean's keychain and then morphs into James Dean?"

"It's as good a guess as any."

"How do we kill him?" I asked.

"Says here to chop off his head with an iron ax." Sam read.

"Alright." Dean nodded, looking a little too excited for this. "Let's go gank ourselves a Paris Hilton."

* * *

 **WAX MUSEUM – NIGHT**

We entered the wax museum for what I hoped to be the last time, walking past the figures of the presidents. At some point, the three of us split up, going through different parts of the museum. After not finding anything, I headed back to the main room, finding a door labeled _Closed for renovations, sorry for the inconvenience_ and _do not enter_. The latch was broken, so I pushed the door open, moving the plastic sheet aside to step in.

As soon as I entered the faux forest, I spotted a girl tied up by her wrist to one of the trees, someone I assumed was Danielle. I eyes scanned the room and I saw Sam lying unconscious near a wooden house facade, and Dean lying on the ground, also knocked out, and a tall blonde in a blue squinted dress standing over him.

Quietly, I tried to move through the room, just about to grab the ax that was lodged into one of the trees when I felt someone grab me, slamming me hard to the ground.

* * *

As I awoke, I struggled for a moment before realizing I was tied to one of the trees, Sam and Dean on either side of me tied up in the same fashion. The Leshi sat on one of the tree stumps near the broken house, picking up a one of the many knives from the stump next to her, filing her nails, causing small sparks to fly.

"I'm so glad you're awake for this." She smiled. "This is gonna be huge.

"Super. Yeah, I wouldn't wanna miss it." Dean mumbled.

"I mean, I've been stuffing myself with fast food lately. So it's nice to do the ritual right. Prepare a nice, slow meal for a change."

"Just like the good old days, huh?" Sam asked.

"You have no idea. People adored me. They used to throw themselves at me, with smiles on their faces."

I shrugged. "I guess these days nobody gives a shit about some forest god."

"Not since they cut down my forest and built a Yugo plant." She glared threateningly.

"March of progress, sister." Dean said.

"For years now, I've been wandering. Hungry. Scared. Scrounging for scraps. So not sexy." She muttered in a high-pitched valley-girl voice. "But then, the best thing ever happened. Someone tripped the apocalypse. And I thought, what the hell, I'm tired of watching what I eat. I wanna pig out. So I found this little place. It's awesome. Adoring fans stroll right in the door."

"Yeah, but they're not your fans." Sam pointed out.

"So? They worship Lincoln, Gandhi, Hilton...whatever. I'll take what I can get."

"You know, I gotta tell you, you are not the first god we've met, but you are...the nuttiest." Dean commented.

"No, you- you people, you're the crazy ones. You used to worship gods. But this?" She asked, gesturing to her Paris Hilton disguise. "This is what passes for idolatry? Celebrities? What have they got besides small dogs and spray tans? You people used to have old-time religion. Now you have _Us Weekly_."

"I don't know, I'm more of a _Penthouse Forum_ man myself." Dean winked at her.

"Oh, Jesus Christ." I mumbled, rolling my eyes.

"Maybe" She smiled, stepping in front of him. "But...there's still a lot of yummy meat on those bones, boy."

"Well I hate to break it to you, sister, but you can't eat me. See, I'm not a Paris Hilton BFF. I've never even seen _House of Wax_."

"She has." Leshi smiled at me.

"What?" Dean asked, glancing over to me with disgust.

"Hey, it was on. You were in hell. Leave me alone." I said, looking to the god. "Either way, I'm not a fan. Believe me."

"Oh, I know. But it doesn't matter. Because I can totally read your mind. I know who your heroes are. Like you, your hero is your Mommy. You strive to be like her. The good woman that Rose was. But you think you'll never get there." She to me before looking back to Dean. " And you it' your daddy. Am I right?" She smirked as Dean didn't reply. "Poor little Dean. All you ever wanted was to be loved by your idol. So, you first. One distant father figure, coming right up."

Just as she was about to touch the ax, Dean pulled free of the ropes, sprinting across the large clearing, tackling her to the floor. Sam and I started to desperately pull on our own restraints as she managed to get Dean on his back, a knee on his chest as she punched him repeatedly.

I kicked at the tree, pushing against it with my foot until I got free of the ropes, rushing over to the Leshi, kicking her in the face, sending her flying off of Dean and onto the ground just as Sam got loose and grabbed the ax, bringing it down onto her neck until her head rolled off, panting in exertion, his face covered in blood.

"Not a word." Dean mumbled from his spot on the floor.

"Dude. You just got whaled on by Paris Hilton!" Sam exclaimed with a laugh. I chuckled along as Dean rolled over slightly, letting out a groan of pain.

"Shut up."

* * *

 **MOTEL – DAY**

After Sam had gotten cleaned up and changed and we all rested for a little bit, we packed up our things and brought them out to the Impala. Danielle was going to be alright, recovering in the hospital with her friends by her side. Sheriff Carnegie, every the conspiracy theorist put an ABP out on Paris Hilton.

And in all, this ended up being a successful hunt.

"Hey, listen, I was thinking about what you said yesterday. About me keeping too tight of a leash on you. Hell, maybe you're right." Dean cleared his throat, glancing over at me before looking to his brother. "I mean, look, I'm not exactly Mister Innocent in this whole mess either, you know. I did break the first seal."

"You didn't know." Sam said, immediately to ease his brothers worries.

"Yeah, well, neither did you. I'm not saying demon blood was a great way to go, but, you did kill Lilith."

"And start the apocalypse."

"Which none of us saw coming. I mean, who'd have thought killing Lilith would've been a bad thing? Point is, I was so worried about watching your every move that I didn't see what it was actually doing to you. So, for that I'm sorry."

"Thanks." Sam murmured.

"So where do we go from here?"

"The way I see it, we got one shot at surviving this."

"What's that?"

"Maybe I am on deck for the devil, maybe same with you and Michael and your with your grandfather's grace. Maybe there's no changing that."

"Well that's encouraging."

"But, we _can_ stop wringing our hands over it. We gotta just grab onto whatever's in front of us, kick its ass, and go down fighting."

I nodded, glancing up to Dean, who agreed. "I can get on board with that."

"But we're gonna have to do it on the same level."

"You got it." Dean grinned slightly. "I say we get the hell outta here."

"Hell yeah."

As we went to get into our repetitive spots in the car, he stopped, holding his keys out towards Sam. "You wanna drive?"

Sam looked down at them in shock. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I could- I could use a nap."

Sam moved to the driver side, leaving Dean and I at the back of the car. I smiled at him and he glanced down, rolling his eyes at me. "Turns out you were right."

"When am I not?" I asked, folding my arms.

"Yeah, yeah." Dean grumbled. "Still think I'm a dick?"

Reaching up, I placed a kiss on his cheek. "Yes, but you're my dick."

Dean chuckled, pulling me close to him, placing a kiss on my lips. I jumped as Sam honked the horn, startling us. "Let's go, lovebirds!"

Maybe, just maybe...we'd be okay.

* * *

 **MAKE WAX MUSEUMS HIP AGAIN!**

 **Too soon…? Sorry ;D**

 **Thanks for reading and I hope you guys liked it!**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction**


	7. I Believe the Children Are Our Future

_Motorcycles in the parking lot  
Revving their engines and it just won't stop  
Now there's a voice screaming in my head  
Houston, I think we've got a problem  
Where does everybody go when they go?  
They go so fast, I don't think they know  
We hate so fast and we love too slow  
London, I think we've got a problem  
And when I think about it, I just can't think about it  
I try to drink about it  
I keep spinning _

… _.._

 _Broken hearts all around the spot  
I can't help thinking that we lost the plot  
Suicide bomber and a student shot  
Tokyo, I think we got a problem  
But for that they have gotta pill  
If that don't kill you, then the side-effects will  
If we don't kill each other then the side-effects will  
Cape Town, I think we got a problem _

… _._

 _If the darkest hour comes before the light  
Where is the light?  
Where is the light?  
Where is the light?_

 _Ave Mary A  
Where did you go?  
Where did you go?  
How did you know to get out of a world gone mad?  
Help me, help me let go  
Of the chaos around me, the devil that hounds me  
I need you to tell me  
Child be still_

 _ **P!nk – Ave Mary A**_

* * *

Inside the coroner's office of the small town Alliance, Nebraska, Sam, Dean and I stood around, waiting for the doctor to come out. Things had been pretty good between the three of us since Ohio, definitely not as strained as it once had been.

Dean addressed the doctor as he walked towards us. "Agents Page, Plant and Bonham, FBI."

"What brings you by?"

"We need to see Amber Freer's body." Sam said.

"Really? What for?"

"The police report said something clawed through her skull?" Dean asked.

"You didn't read the autopsy report that I emailed out this morning?"

"We- we have server issues." I said. The doctor shrugged, leading us to the autopsy room, opening one of the small doors, sliding out Amber's body on the metal slab, tossing the sheet back away from her head, revealing the scratches that went straight into her brain.

"When they brought her in, we thought she was attacked by a wolf or something."

"Or something." Dean mumbled.

"But we were wrong." The doctor said, showing us a plastic bag, a small, shiny red object inside it.

"Is that a press-on nail?" I asked.

"Sure is. We found it in her temporal lobe."

"Wait, are you- are you saying that she did this to herself?" Dean asked.

"Uh-huh." The doctor nodded. "She scratched her brains out. It'd take hours, and it'd hurt like hell, but sure, it's possible."

"How?"

"Pick your acronym. OCD, PCP. It all spells crazy." He muttered. I grimaced at the man, pulling the sheet back a bit more, revealing her right hand with four press-on nails still in tact, the middle finger missing one. "My guess, some kind of phantom itch. I mean, an extreme case, but..."

"Phantom itch?" Sam asked incredulously. The doctor nodded, covering Amber back up before sliding the slab back in, shutting the door.

* * *

 **HOUSE – DAY**

Amber babysat for one of the families in town, and this is where she _killed herself._ Sam sat in the living room, speaking to the Francine and Jim while Dean lingered behind, looking stuff over. I looked down one of the hallways, coming back just as Sam began questioning the parents.

"Okay, now, some of these questions might seem a bit odd, but please just bear with me." Sam said. "Have you noticed any cold spots in the house?"

"No." The man replied.

"Okay. What about strange smells?"

Peering around the corner into the kitchen, I saw a young boy standing there. "Whatcha lookin' for?"

"Don't know yet." I said, walking up to him. "You're Jimmy right?"

"Yeah."

"Amber was your babysitter?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Yeah." I sighed. "Most of my babysitters sucked."

"Yeah?"

"Yup. Hey, did you see anything weird that night?"

"No, ma'am." He muttered.

"Are you sure?"

"I would tell you if I knew something. I promise. One hundred percent. Cross my heart."

"Jimmy, I know you're lying."

"No-"

"Listen, you shouldn't lie to the FBI. It's against the law. You know that, right?" I asked, looking into his eyes, raising an eyebrow.

Jimmy swallowed hard. "Y- yeah."

"Good. So tell me the truth."

* * *

As the three of us left the house, I held up the packet of itching powder that Jimmy had given me, only feeling a little bad about scaring him into telling me. It had to be done.

"So he put it on the babysitter's hairbrush." Dean muttered.

"Yup." I nodded.

"But there's no way itching powder made that girl scratch her brains out." Sam said. "It's just ground-up maple seeds."

"Well, it's got something to do with it."

"Are we not gonna talk about the fact that you threatened a kid?" Dean asked as we reached the Impala. Sam's eyes widened and he looked over at me in question.

"I didn't threaten him. I just told him it was against the law to lie to the FBI. I can't help that it scared him." I shrugged, shooting the boys a small smile as I slid into the backseat of the Impala.

* * *

 **HOSPITAL – DAY**

Only a few seconds after pulling away from the house, Sam got a call about another death and we headed off to the hospital where an EMT was zipping a body bag shut before he and another man wheeled the body out on a stretcher. The doctor stood in the corridor, watching from afar.

"What happened?" Sam asked the man as we approached.

"Guy got electrocuted." He replied.

"Any idea how?" Dean asked.

"Maybe a loose wire or a piece of equipment shorted out. So far, we haven't found anything."

"Any witnesses?" I inquired.

"Yeah, that guy in there, Mr. Stanley." He nodded to an old man sitting on a chair in the next room over, staring out the window he was in front of. "He says he saw it, but he's not making a lick of sense. Senile."

"Thanks." Sam muttered before we made our way over to the man. "Mr. Stanley?"

"It was just a joke. I didn't know it would really work." The old man murmured, glancing back at us.

"What would work?" Dean asked.

"All I did was shake his hand." Mr. Stanley said, showing us his hand, revealing that he was holding a joy buzzer.

* * *

 **MOTEL ROOM – DAY**

Back at the motel, we all stood around the table, looking down at the raw ham placed in two aluminum-foil pans. Dean slipped on a pair of goggles and a pair of gloves, picking up the joy buzzer carefully, glancing up at Sam and I.

"You guys ready?"

I nodded, placing the goggles on while Sam held his up to his eyes. "Hit it, Mr. Wizard."

Dean flipped the dark plastic visor on his goggles down, holding the buzzer over the ham, pressing it down. The sound of eletricity crackling filled the room as steam rose from the ham and it changed color right before our eyes.

Once the top of it turned black, Dean removed the buzzer, flipping up his goggles. "That'll do, pig."

"What in the hell?" I asked, gawking at the now fully-cooked ham.

"That crap isn't supposed to work." Sam mumbled in astonishment.

"This thing doesn't even have batteries." Dean said, gesturing to the buzzer that he'd placed back down before taking his gloves off.

"So what? Are- are we looking at cursed objects?"

"Sounds good. Maybe there's a powerful witch in town." Dean muttered, taking a large knife, cutting a chuck of ham off.

"Should you really be eating that?" I asked just before he put it in his mouth.

"Why not?"

"I don't know, maybe because it was made with a possibly cursed object?"

Dean shrugged, shoving the ham in his mouth. "Is there any link between the, uh, the joy buzzer and the itching powder?"

"One was made in China, the other Mexico, but they were both bought from the same store." Sam told us.

* * *

 **CONJURARIUM – DAY**

The door chimed above us as we entered the magic shop, Dean immediately went over to a shelf of whoopee cushions, holding them up with a grin. I smiled at him, shaking my head as Sam went over to the check-out counter.

A man stepped out of the back room, a smile on his face. "Welcome to the Conjurarium, sanctum of magic and mystery."

"You the owner?" Sam asked as I walked over to him.

"Yup."

"You sold any itching powder or joy buzzers lately?" Dean asked, coming up beside me, the whoopee cushion still in his hand.

"Yeah, a grand total of one of each. They aren't exactly big-ticket items. Look, you kids here to buy something or what?" The owner asked, raising an eyebrow. Dean pulled some cash out of his wallet, holding up the whoopee cushion as he handed the money over.

"Do you get a lot of customers?" I asked.

"Kids come in. They don't buy much, but they're more than happy to break stuff. These days, all they care about are their _iPhones_ and those kissing-vampire movies. The whole thing makes me just-"

"Angry?" Dean finished in question.

The man pondered that for a moment, nodding. "Yeah. Yeah, I am angry. This shop has been my life for twenty years, and now it's wasting away to nothing."

"Which is why you hate them."

"I suppose."

"You wish there was something you could do about it."

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"So you're taking revenge." Dean said, pulling a rubber chicken off one of the displays, slapping it down on the counter. "With this."

"What?" He asked. Dean held up the joy buzzer, pressing it to the rubber chicken. Electricity crackles and the bird fried and melted. The owner left back, yelping, beginning to make inarticulate noises.

"Something tells me this guy is not a powerful witch." Sam muttered.

"Sorry, sir." I mumbled, shooting him an apologetic smile as the three of us left quickly.

* * *

 **HOSPITAL – DAY**

The next morning, we got another call from the doctor, who said that there was a man who had all of his teeth pulled out under _suspicious circumstance_ s. As Sam and I were finishing up our conversation with him, I heard Dean in the hallway, his flirting tone in full effect.

"Well, I appreciate that nurse Fremont."

"Please, call me Jen." She giggled, a smile in her voice.

"Oh. Jen it is."

I excused myself, breaking away from Sam to go stand behind Dean. He watched the nurse as she walked away, very obviously staring at her butt. I tapped him on the shoulder, startling him.

Dean spun around, his eyes wide. "Oh, h- hey baby."

"Hey, baby." I murmured condescendingly.

"I was just- I didn't- I wasn't serious."

"I know, she's way out of your league." I said.

Dean narrowed his eyes at me as Sam came out to meet us. "Hey."

"What's up with Toothless?" Dean asked. "Cavity creeps get a hold of him?"

"Yeah. Close. He wrote up a description." Sam said, holding up his notepad. " _Five foot ten, three hundred fifty pounds, wings, and a pink tutu._ Said it was the tooth fairy."

"So he's obviously whacked out on painkillers."

"Maybe. Whatever it was got past locked door and windows without triggering the alarm." I said.

"Come on, tooth fairy?"

"And it left thirty-two quarters underneath his pillow." Sam added. "One for each tooth."

"Well, I will see your crazy and raise you some. There's a couple of kids upstairs with stomach ulcers—say they got it from mixing Pop Rocks and Coke." Dean said, looking to me. "That's why I was talking to Jen- I mean, nurse Fremont."

"Uh-huh." I mumbled.

"Also, another guy, his face...froze that way."

"What way?" Sam asked.

Dean pulled out the sides of his mouth, crossing his eyes, holding it for a moment before letting go. I grimaced. "Oh god, no."

"He, uh, held it too long, and it- it stuck. They're flying in a plastic surgeon."

"So, I mean, if you add all that up..." Sam paused, looking between Dean and I. "I got nothing."

"I thought sea-monkeys were real." Dean said suddenly. I glanced up at him, furrowing my brow.

"They are. They're brine shrimp."

"No, I mean like in the ads. You know, like the sea-monkey wife cooks the pot roast for the sea-monkey husband, and the sea-monkey kids play with the dog in a sea-monkey castle – real. I mean, I was six, but I believed it."

"What's your point, Dean?" I asked.

"Maybe that's the connection. The tooth fairy, the Pop Rocks and Coke, the joy buzzer that shocks you – they're all lies that kids believe."

"And now they're coming true."

"Okay, so whatever's doing this is reshaping reality. It has the powers of a god." Sam rolled his eyes. "Or of a trickster."

"Yeah, with the sense of humor of a nine-year-old." Dean nodded.

"Or you." I commented.

* * *

 **MOTEL – DAY**

Since Sam was gone, it didn't take too long before Dean and I were on the bed, making out. I straddled his lap, our bodies flush against each other. I could feel him getting more and more aroused by the second, rubbing myself on him. Dean moaned into my mouth, grabbing a handful of my hair, holding my lips to his. I smiled into the kiss before pulling back, keeping my hands resting on Dean's chest as he stared up at me, running his hands up my sides, cupping my breasts.

"Come on, take this off." Dean muttered, beginning to lift up my shirt.

"No, baby."

"Oh, don't play hard to get."

"I'm not playing hard to get. Shark week." I said with a sigh.

Dean's face fell immediately, his hands dropping down to my thighs. "Dammit."

"Hey, it's gotta happen sometime."

"Well, we can still do it."

"Ew, Dean no." I shook my head, moving off of him.

"We can still do something."

I laughed, standing up. "Like what?"

"I think you know what." Dean muttered suggestively.

"And what do I get out of that?"

"Uh..."

"You remember that one time that we actually went a whole week without having sex?"

"...no."

"Dean."

"Yeah, I remember." Dean mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"And remember how amazing it was when we finally did?" I asked, dragging a finger up his stomach.

"Oh, yeah."

"Let's do that again." I smiled, bending down to place a kiss on his lips.

"But-"

"I'm gonna go take a shower."

"But- but Tori, what am I supposed to do about this?" Dean asked, gesturing to the bulge in his pants that I was trying to ignore. I had to admit, it was hard for me to walk away from that.

"You're not supposed to do anything. That's the point."

"Did you do all this on purpose?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you asking me if I purposely gave you a raging boner just to tell you that we couldn't have sex, so that you would be laying there sexually frustrated while I went to go take a wet, hot, soapy shower all because you were flirting with a hot nurse?" I asked innocently. "Now, how could I ever do that?"

Dean grinned at the _hot soapy shower_ part, his smirk fading when he realized what I said after that. "Wait, what?"

I smiled at him, shrugging. "What?"

"You're so mean to me."

"You deserve it." I said. Dean nodded, not disagreeing. "Hey, it'll be worth it, anyway. Just think, a week of _nothing_ followed by a night of _everything_."

"Everything?" Dean asked, sold on the idea right away.

" _Everything_."

* * *

Once I was dressed, I headed back out, finding Dean sitting at the table, eating a sandwich. Sam entered, a map in his hand.

"Dude, seriously, still with the ham?" He asked.

"We don't have a fridge." Dean said around a mouthful of food. I smiled, walking up beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder as Sam spread a the map down on the table.

"Well, I found something." Sam said, beginning to point to the corresponding x's on the map. "The tooth fairy attack was here, Pop Rocks and Coke was here, then you've got itching powder, face freeze, and joy buzzer. All located within a two-mile radius."

"So, we got a blast zone of weird, and inside, fantasy becomes reality."

"Looks like."

"And what's the A-bomb at its center?"

"Four acres of farmland...and a house."

"Our motel isn't in that circle, by any chance?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well..." Dean hesitated a moment before raising his palm, which was now covered in hair.

"Ugh, dude!" Sam exclaimed, looking away.

My eyes widened as I looked up at his sheepish expression. "Dean! You weren't supposed to do that!"

"I know. I couldn't help myself. You really got me going." Dean shrugged. I shook my head.

"You know you can go blind from that, too, right?"

"Just give me five minutes and we can go check out that house." Dean said, making his way to the bathroom. He was only in there for a moment before peering back out, looking at me. "Hey, where's your razor?"

"Use yours, you pig." I rolled my eyes at him as he smirked, shutting the door.

* * *

 **FARMHOUSE – DAY**

The Impala pulled up across the street from the large farmhouse, the three of us got out, cross the street as a mail truck drove past. I felt my stomach turn as we approached the home, and glanced up at Dean, who checked Ruby's knife, which was tucked into his belt.

Sam was about to bend down to pick the lock when the door swung open, a boy standing there. A strange feeling filled me as he stared up at us. "Can I help you?"

"Hi." Sam smiled. "What's your name?"

"Who wants to know?"

"The FBI." Dean said, flashing his badge.

"Let me see that." The boy said, taking his badge, looking it over before handing it back. "So, what, you guys don't knock?"

"Are your parents home?" I asked.

"They work."

"Well, you mind if we ask you a few questions and maybe take a look around the house?" Sam asked.

"I don't know."

"Come on. You can trust us. We're the authorities." Dean said, he and Sam trying to smile reassuringly.

"It'll only take a few minutes, I promise." I said, smiling down at him.

The boy looked up at me, staring into my eyes for a moment before nodding, moving aside so we could enter the home. We followed as he made his way into the kitchen, turning off the stove where a small pot sat.

"What's that?" Sam asked.

"It's called soup." The boy muttered sarcastically, pulling the pot off the stove. "You heat it up and you eat it."

"Right." Sam chuckled and I smiled at the boy. "I- I know. It's just, uh, I used to make my own dinner, too, when I was a kid."

"Well, I'm not a kid."

"Right. No. I- I know. I'm Robert, by the way."

"Jesse."

"Jesse, nice to meet you."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dean pluck a drawn picture of a large man in a pink tu-tu off the refrigerator, bringing it over. "Did you draw this?"

Jesse nodded. "It's the tooth fairy."

"That's what you think the tooth fairy looks like, huh?"

"Yeah. My dad told me about him."

"Huh."

"What, didn't your dad tell you about the tooth fairy?"

"My dad?" Dean laughed lightly. "My dad told me different stories."

"Well, the tooth fairy isn't a story."

"He's not?" I asked, getting a very weird feeling from this boy.

"No."

"What do you know about itching powder, Jesse?"

"That stuff will make you scratch your brains out."

"Pop Rocks and Coke?" Dean asked.

"You mix them, and you'll end up in the hospital. Everyone knows that." Jesse said. I nodded, holding up the joy buzzer. "You shouldn't have that."

"Why not?" I asked, something inside telling me I was right about my hunch.

"It can electrocute you."

"Actually, it can't. It's just a toy, it's totally harmless. It doesn't even have batteries."

"So it can't shock you?"

"No. Not at all. I swear."

"Oh."

"Do you believe me?"

"Yeah." Jesse nodded, sincerity in his eyes.

"Good. Because all it just is just shake in your hand." I said, pressing it to my other palm. Both Sam and Dean flinched, relaxing when it only buzzed. "See?"

* * *

"Are you crazy?" Dean asked as we exited the boys house.

"I had a feeling." I shrugged. "I went with it."

"You risked toasting your ass on a _feeling_?"

"Hey, I was right, wasn't I?"

"Don't ever do that again." Dean said, a serious look in his eyes.

"Okay, okay." I nodded, silently telling him to relax. "At least now we know who's turning this town into Willy Wonka's worst nightmare."

"The kid." Sam nodded.

"Everything Jesse believes comes true."

"He probably doesn't even know he's doing it." Dean added.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the curtains move through an upstairs window where Jessie was looking down at us.

* * *

 **RUNDOWN HOUSE – DAY**

After doing some more research on Jesse, we saw that he was actually adopted. His records were sealed, but we unsealed them and found no father listed, but the name of his mother, Julia Wright, who lived in Elk Creek.

A sign reading _no trespassing_ hung on the gate of a rusty overgrown fence. Dean pushed it open, stepping through first. I followed along, Sam right behind me as we made our way up to the door of the large, rundown house.

Dean rang the doorbell, a few moments passing because the muffled sound of a woman's voice came through the door. "Whatever you're selling, I'm not interested."

"Ma'am, we're agents Bonham, Page and Plant, FBI." I told her, pulling my badge out, holding it up to the peephole.

"Put your badge in the slot. All of you."

The three of us obeyed, placing our badges through the slot, hearing the locks turning. Julia opened the door, looking up at us with tired eyes, handing the badges back. "What do you want?"

"We just had a few questions. About your son." Sam said.

"I don't have a son."

"He was born March twenty-ninth, nineteen ninety-eight, in Omaha. You put him up for adoption?"

Julia glanced up, expressionless. "...what about him?"

"We were just wondering, um, was it- was it a normal pregnancy?"

"Was there anything strange?" Dean added.

"Stay away from me!" Julia shouted, trying to shut the door.

Dean caught it before she could, and we followed her inside until she moved into her kitchen, shutting the door, trying to keep it closed even though both Sam and Dean were pushing on it. Eventually, she let the door open, backing up to the counters. As we entered, she grabbed a canister of salt, throwing the contents at us.

When nothing happened, Julia stared, her eyes wide. "You're not demons?"

"How do you know about demons?" I asked, seeing her begin to retreat into herself again. "You can tell us. Please."

"I was- I was possessed. A demon took control of my body, and I hurt people. I killed people."

"That wasn't you, Julia."

"But I was there. I heard a woman beg for mercy. I...felt a young girl's blood drip down my hands." she murmured. I glanced down, understanding.

"That's how you knew about the salt." Dean said.

"Yeah, I picked up tricks. It was in my head for months."

"How many months?"

"Nine."

"So your son..." Sam trailed off.

"Yeah, the whole time." She nodded, the pain clear in her eyes. "The pregnancy, birth- all of it. I was possessed. The night the baby was born, I was alone. And the pain was- the pain was overwhelming. I- I screamed, and it came out a laugh, because the demon was happy. It used my body to give birth to a child. When it was over, something changed. Maybe the- the demon was tired or if the pain helped me fight it, but...somehow, I took control.

"And the demon wailed inside me. It pounded against my skull. I thought my head was gonna explode. But I knew. I knew what I had to do. I took salt and poured it down my throat. And when I was alone with the baby... a part of me- part of me wanted to kill it." Julia continued, tears in her eyes. "But, God help me, I couldn't do that. So, I put it up for adoption, and I ran."

"Who was the father?" Dean asked.

"I was a virgin." She murmured. I shared a look with the boys, understanding more now that this was very bad news. "Have you seen my son? Is he human?"

"His name's Jesse. He lives in Alliance. He's a good kid."

* * *

 **MOTEL – NIGHT**

The drive back to our motel was filled with silence. I could barely wrap my head around what Julia had told us, but we knew we couldn't do this alone. We needed help. And there was only one person I could think of to do that right now.

As we approached the room, the ringing in my ears got louder and I knew exactly who I was going to see on the other side of the door once I'd opened it, smiling at the angel. "Hey, Cas."

"Hello, Victoria."

"I take it you got our message." Sam said, sitting down as Dean shut the door.

"It's lucky you found the boy."

"Oh, yeah, real lucky. What do we do with him?" Dean asked.

"Kill him." Cas said simply, catching us all off guard.

"Wh- what?" I asked, the boys and I sunned. "Cas-"

"This child is half demon and half human, but it's far more powerful than either. Other cultures call this hybrid cambion or katako. You know him as the antichrist." Cas said, sitting down at the table. A loud fart noise sounded as he settled into the chair, furrowed his brow in confusion. "That wasn't me."

Cas reached underneath himself, pulling out the whoopee cushion Dean had bought earlier. Dean let out a low, slightly embarrassed chuckle, taking it from him. "Who put that there?"

"Anyway." Sam mumbled. "I don't get it. Jesse is the devil's son?"

"No, of course not. Your Bible gets more wrong than it does right. The antichrist is not Lucifer's child. It's just demon spawn. But it is one of the devil's greatest weapons in the war against heaven." Cas said, looking to me. "Just in case he doesn't get you, he will take the boy."

"If Jesse's a demonic howitzer, then what the hell's he doing in Nebraska?" Dean asked.

"The demons lost him. They can't find him. But they're looking."

"And they lost him because?"

"Because of the child's power. It hides him from both angels and demons. For now."

"So he's got, like, a force field around him. Well, that's great. Problem solved."

"With Lucifer risen, this child grows strong. Soon, he will do more than just make a few toys come to life. It will be something that will draw the demons to him. The demons will find this child. Lucifer will twist this boy to his purpose. And then, with a word, this child will destroy the Host of Heaven."

"Wait, you're saying Jesse's gonna kill the angels?" I asked.

"We cannot allow that to happen."

"Wait." Sam called, standing to his feet. "We're the good guys. We- we don't just kill children."

"A year ago, you would have done whatever it took to win this war."

"Things change."

"Okay, look, we aren't going to kill him." Dean said, stopping them before things got too heated. "But we can't leave Jesse here either. We know that. So we take him to Bobby's. He'll know what to do."

"You'll kidnap him? What is going on in this town, it's what happens when this thing is happy. You cannot imagine what it will do if it's angry. Besides, how will you hold him? With a thought, he could be halfway around the world."

"So we-"

"So we tell him the truth." Sam said. "You say Jesse's destined to go dark side, fine. But he hasn't yet. So if we lay it all out for him – what he is, the apocalypse, everything – he might make the right choice."

"You didn't. And I can't take that chance." Casitel said. Just before he disappeared, I grabbed his arm and in the blink of an eye, we were in Jesse's living room. "Victoria."

"Cas, you can't do this." I said. "Come on-"

"Do you want Lucifer to win?"

"Of course not."

"Then this is what has to be done." Cas said, stalking around me, moving towards the kitchen where Jesse was getting a glass of water, oblivious to our pretense. I grabbed his arm again, stopping him. "Cas, he's just an innocent kid."

"He's a monster."

"No, Cas. No. He doesn't have to be."

"What?" Cas asked, looking at me in confusion.

"Cas, if I take my grandfather's grace, what will happen to me?"

"You'll become an archangel."

"Okay." I nodded, swallowing hard. "And with that power, I'd have a choice. I could either choose to fight for good, or fight for evil. I would choose good. You have to give Jesse a chance to choose good, Cas."

Cas stared at me for a long moment before shaking his head. "I'm sorry, I can't take that chance, Victoria."

And with that, he placed two fingers on my forehead, sending me outside. "Cas!"

Behind me, I heard the screech of tires followed by bright headlights illuminating the front of the house. Dean barely even slowed the car to a stop before jumping out with Sam by his side.

"Where's Cas?" Dean asked as we rushed to the door.

"Inside. He wouldn't listen to me." I explained. Dean nodded, kicking the door a couple times until it flew open. Jesse stood in the middle of the room, staring up at us with wide eyes. "Where did that guy go?"

Without saying a word, Jesse pointed to the floor where an action figure wearing Cas's suit and trenchcoat, holding a silver knife sat. Dean bent down, picking him up, placing him on the mantelpiece as I guided Jesse to the couch.

"Was he your friend?" The boy asked.

"Him?" Dean asked, nodding to the figure. "No."

"I did that. But how did I do that?"

"You're a superhero."

"I am?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I mean, who else could turn someone into a toy? You're Superman minus the cape and the go-go boots. See, my- my partners and I, we work for a secret government agency. It's our job to find kids with special powers. In fact, we're here to take you to a hidden base in South Dakota, where you'll be trained to fight evil."

"Like the X-Men?"

"Exactly like the X-Men." Dean chuckled. "In fact, the guy we're taking you to, he's even in a wheelchair. You'll be a hero. You'll save lives. You'll get the girl. Sounds like fun, right?"

Suddenly, Dean flew against the wall, being pinned there by an invisible force. I turned around, seeing Julia walking in, her eyes black. As Sam and I stood, the demon threw out another hand, pushing us to the wall beside Dean.

"Stay right there. Can't hurt you or the little angel. Orders." She shrugged, looking to Dean with a smirk, slamming him against the opposite wall, then back again. "You, on the other hand? Hurting you's encouraged."

"Leave him alone!" Jesse cried.

The demon leaned down in front of him, her voice sweet. "Jesse. You're beautiful. You have your father's eyes."

"Who are you?"

"I'm your mother."

"No, you're not."

"You're half human...half one of us."

"She means demons, Jesse!" Dean exclaimed. Rolling her eyes, the demon held up a clenched fist, causing Dean to groan in pain.

"Stop it!" I shouted.

"Or what? I'll make a little deal. You say _yes_ , come join us and I'll let lover boy and the little squirt go." She said, nodding to Dean and Jesse.

I glanced over at Dean, who shook his head as he winced in pain. I looked back over to the demon, my teeth clenched. "No."

"Fine." She said, looking back to Jesse. "Those people you call your parents, they lied to you, too. You're not theirs. Not really."

"My mom and dad love me." Jesse muttered.

"Do they? Is- is that why they leave you alone all day? Because they love you so much? These people, these imposters, they told you that the tooth fairy was real and that your toys could hurt you and a hundred other things that aren't true. They love you so much, they made your whole life a lie. Look into your heart, Jesse. You've always known you weren't theirs. You've always known you were different. Everyone has lied to you. They're not FBI agents. And you're not a superhero."

"Then what am I?"

"You're powerful. You can have anything you want. You can do anything you want."

"Don't listen to her, Jesse!" I said.

The demon sneered at me. "God, I wish I could hurt you."

"Do it then." I challenged. She shook her head, turning back to the boy.

"They treated you like a child. Nobody trusted you. Everybody's lied to you. Doesn't that make you angry?" She asked. Jesse clenched his fist and the room began to rattle around us, the fire flaring up and the lights flickering. "See? It does make you angry. But I'm telling you the truth, Jesse. Wouldn't it be better if there were no lies? Come with me and you can wash it all clean. Start over. Imagine that- a world without lies."

"She's right. We lied to you." I said. "I'm sorry. But here's the truth. I'm Victoria Anderson. That's Dean Winchester and his brother Sam. We hunt monsters. And that woman, her name is Julia. She's your mother, but the thing inside of her, the thing that you're talking to, it's a demon."

"A demon?" Jesse asked.

"They've done nothing but lie to you since the moment you met them. Don't listen to her." The demon said.

"Sit down and shut up."

Suddenly, a chair shot up behind the demon, who was forced to sit, suddenly struggling to speak. I watched in shock, pulling in a deep breath as I looked back to Jesse. "There's a war between angels and demons, and you're a part of it. So are we."

"But I'm just a kid."

"Jesse, you can go with her if you want. We can't stop you. No one cal. But if you do, millions of people will die."

"She said I was half demon. Is that true?"

"Yes. It is. But you're half human, too. And you can do the right thing. You have a choice, Jesse."

"Why are you telling me this?!"

"Because you need to know so you _can_ make your _own_ choice, Jesse. You can't let someone else decide your future for you."

Jesse looked at me for a moment before turning to the demon. "Get out of her."

The chair flew back against the wall and black smoke poured out of Julia's mouth, vanishing up the chimney and as soon as the demon was gone, the three of us dropped to the ground.

"How did you do that?" Dean asked.

"I just did."

"Kid...you're awesome."

* * *

"Is she gonna be alright?" Jesse asked, looking at Julia, who was slumped over in a chair, still unconscious.

"Eventually." I nodded.

Dean bent down, picking up the small action figure that had fallen in all the commotion. "Look, uh, truth is, he's kind of a buddy of mine. Is there any way you could turn him back?"

"He tried to kill me." Jesse said.

"Right. Uh. But he's a- he's a good guy. He was just confused." Dean muttered. Jesse just stared, not saying a word. "Okay. It's been a long night. We'll talk about it later."

"What now?"

"Now we take you someplace safe, get you trained up. You'd be handy in a fight, kid."

"What if I don't want to fight?" Jesse asked, pulling on my heartstrings.

"Jesse." Sam came forward, sitting on the coffee table in front of the boy. "You're powerful. More powerful than...pretty much anything we've ever seen. That makes you-"

"A freak."

"To some people, maybe. But not to us. See, we're kind of freaks ourselves."

"I can't stay here, can I?"

"No." Dean shook his head. "The demons know where you are, and more will be coming."

"I won't go without my mom and dad."

"There's nothing more important than family. We get that. And if you really want to take them with you, we'll back your play. But you got to understand, it's gonna be dangerous for them, too."

"What do you mean?"

"Our dad...he would take us with him wherever he went." Dean said.

"Where is he now?"

"Dead. A demon killed him. Look, Jesse...once you're in this fight...you're in it till the end, win or lose."

"What do I do?"

"It's your choice, we can't tell you what you do." I said. But I can tell you something."

"What?"

"Lucifer, he wants me too."

"Why? What are you?"

"I'm not really sure anymore." I mumbled, glancing back at the boys before returning my gaze to Jesse. "Human, I guess. But my grandfather was an angel."

"So, you're part angel like I'm part demon?"

"Kind of, yeah."

"But angels are good."

"No, not all the time. Some of them are bad. Very bad. But no matter what, I'm not saying yes. No matter where I go, or what I do, I'm not saying yes. And no one can make me. No one can make you either, you understand?"

Jesse nodded. "Yeah."

"Your life is yours and yours only, I don't care what anybody tells you. Don't let someone use you for bad things. Don't let someone use you for good things. Do what you want."

"Can I go see my parents? I- I need to...say goodbye." Jesse said, a flutter of sadness and something else in his eyes. I nodded, watching as he left the room.

A few minutes had passed with us waiting around for Jesse. Sam picked up the action figure, practically tossing him back onto the mantel, void of all the care Dean had taken when handling him. Once he'd been gone for about fifteen minutes, we headed up to check on him, finding his bedroom empty.

"He's gone." Castiel announced, suddenly appearing in the doorway behind us.

"Where?" I asked.

"I don't know. Jesse put everyone in town back to normal, the ones still alive. Then he vanished."

"Hey." Sam called, picking up a note that Jesse had left on the bed, reading it.

"What does it say?" Dean asked.

"That he had to leave to keep his parents safe, that he loves them, and he's sorry."

"How do we find him?"

"With the boy's powers, we can't." Cas said. "Not unless he wants to be found."

* * *

 **IMPALA – NIGHT**

My mind had been on Jesse since we left his home, I wondered where he was, what he was doing. If he was scared. He was just a child after all. Then I thought to his parents, They'd be heartbroken, waking up to find their son gone.

But at the end of it all, I think Jesse listened, and he did what he felt was best.

"You think Jesse's gonna be okay?" Dean asked.

"I think so, yeah." I nodded.

"You know, we destroyed that kid's life by telling him the truth."

"We didn't have a choice, Dean." Sam muttered.

"Yeah. You know, I'm starting to get why parents lie to their kids. You want them to believe that the worst thing out there is mixing Pop Rocks and Coke, protect them from the real evil. You want them going to bed feeling safe. If that means lying to them, so be it. The more I think about it...the more I wish Dad had lied to us."

* * *

 **Guess what? Grandpa Dean's is up next ;) ;) ;)**

 **Thanks for reading. I hope you guys liked it!  
**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction**


	8. The Curious Case of Dean Winchester

It seemed as though we were only in hospitals anymore. The doctor in front of us stared, an incredulous look on his face. "You expect me to believe you're CDC?"

"Excuse me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's just that you're a day early. First time in history I haven't sat on my ass waiting for you people." He grumbled.

"New administration. A change you can believe in." Dean smiled, glancing over at me with a small eye roll.

"Right." The doctor nodded, leading us to the morgue. We stood in front of the crypt, watching on as the he slowly pulled Mr. Xavier out of one of the drawers, moving the cover off of him, revealing an old shriveled body with gray hair. "Meet Xavier. Date of birth, April third, nineteen eighty-four."

I furrowed my brow, looking at the doctor like he was absolutely crazy. "What?"

"I know. I ran the DNA twice. That's definitely him."

"Well, he wasn't big on the sunscreen, huh?" Dean joked, smiling down at me. I smirked, shaking my head.

"So, what's your theory?" Sam asked.

"All I know is, deceased male, twenty-five years old-" He paused, looking up at us. "-and he died of old age."

* * *

I walked in between the boys down the hospital corridor on our way outside, my phone pressed against my ear. "You were right about this one. It's definitely a job."

" _Thought so_." Bobby grumbled. " _Any other stiffs in town_?"

"Just the one body." I answered.

" _Anything else_?"

"Couple missing persons, but you know, usual for a town this size."

" _Well, check 'em out_."

"You think they're connected?" I asked, a disbelieving tone to my voice.

" _Call it a hunch_."

I shrugged, walking outside as Dean opened the door for me. "Sure thing, Bobby. And, by the way, how are you doing?"

" _Doing_?"

"Yeah. You know, just...in general."

" _Oh, you mean my legs_. _Well, I'm just weepin' in my Haagen_ - _Dazs_." He spat sarcastically. " _Idjit_."

"I'm just asking a question, no one's telling you to be a big baby about it." I muttered, hearing Sam and Dean chuckle beside me as we made our way to the Impala.

" _Yeah, yeah. Keep me posted._ "

"Will do." I said, hanging up.

"You know, either of us tried to talk to him like that, he'd chop our heads off." Dean mumbled, opening the car door.

"I know." I smirked, sliding into the backseat.

* * *

 **WHITLOW HOUSE – DAY**

Mrs. Whitlow sat in front of Sam and I on the small chair across from the couch, a sad look on her face. Sam looked at her with sympathetic eyes, holding a framed picture in his hands.

"That's the most recent." She nodded to the picture Sam held.

"How long has he been missing?" I asked, looking down at the picture of the older man at a golf tournament.

"Oh, I knew right away when he didn't come home Tuesday night."

"Tuesday." I mumbled with disdain, sharing a look with Sam. Dean ignored us, continuing to question to the woman.

"Is there someplace he likes to go after work, maybe? A favorite bar?"

She laughed, shaking her head. "No. Tuesdays, he always works a bit late, but he always comes straight home."

Dean nodded, glancing over at me before looking back over at Mrs. Whitlow. "May I use your facilities, ma'am?"

"Yes." She nodded, a small smile on her face.

I watched as Dean got up, shooting me a small look. I began to ask Mrs. Whitlow more about her husband, trying to distract her just in case Dean made any noise while he was snooping around.

* * *

 **MADAME LIU'S MOTEL – NIGHT**

"Well, at least he's consistent. Same room every Tuesday, hourly rates." Sam muttered as we made our way through the seedy mote hallway.

"Hope I got that kind of kick when I'm his age." Dean laughed.

"Ooh, me too." I murmured with a grin. Dean glanced back at me, a smirk on his face.

"Yeah." Sam scoffed. "Like any of us will live that long."

"...true."

"So...what do you think is in there?" Sam asked as we stopped in front of the door with the same number Dean had found on the receipts in Cliff's office.

"A wrinkly, gooey corpse." Dean said, wrinkling his nose.

Sam pulled out his lockpick, bending down in front of the doorknob. Dean and I stood on either side of him, keeping watch. Everything was quiet one second, then the next all we could hear was shouting from inside the room. Sam quickly backed up, slamming the door open.

"Hey! What the-" A man yelled out, laying naked in the middle of the bed with a barely dressed woman next to him.

Sam's eyes widened and Dean rolled his as another woman slipped out from under the covers. "God."

"So, that's what that shouting was for..." I mumbled.

Both of the women quickly jumped out of the bed, running into the corner of the small room. Dean shot the man an apologetic smile, taking my arm, bringing the both of us back out into the hallway. Just as Sam was about to close shut the door, he pushed it back open, staring closely at the man.

"Hey." Sam looked over at me, nodding to the man's arm. "Nice tattoo."

I raised an eyebrow, looking down at the black design there. It was identical to Cliff's. Dean stood out in the hallway, confusion on his face as Sam and I stepped back into the room.

"Happen to know anybody named Cliff Whitlow?" I asked, folding my arms.

"Never heard of him." The man said, shaking his head nervously.

"Well, that's weird." Sam muttered, pulling out the ID card he'd found in the wallet laying on the ground. "'Cause you're carrying his wallet."

Dean walked back in the room, going straight over to the bed. My eyes went wide as he lifted up the covers, looking underneath for a moment before dropping them.

"Your wife told us about your, uh, birthmark there. That's nice." Dean said, walking back over to me with a disgusted look on his face.

"I'm gonna try and ignore the fact that you just checked out another dude's junk..." I mumbled, staring up at him.

"I had to make sure it was him."

"Uh-huh."

Dean shrugged, looking back up at the man. "Well, you look great, Cliff. Did you get some work done?"

Cliff sighed, looking over at the women standing in the far corner of the room. "Could you give us some privacy?"

They both nodded, heading for the door. Dean winked at them as they passed by before glaring back down at Cliff, who had thrown a robe on. He grabbed his wallet out of Sam's hand, giving the girls some money before shutting the door.

"Please don't tell my wife." Cliff said, turning to face us.

"Slow down." Dean said.

"I'm begging you. As far as she knows, I'm dead. For the love of God, let's keep it that way."

"How can you possibly be Cliff Whitlow?" I asked.

"I can't tell you."

"Well, either you tell us or we tell the missus." Dean grinned.

"Okay, okay. It was a game.

"Like... _Xbox_?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What's _Xbox_?" Cliff asked. I rolled my eyes. Yeah, this was really Cliff. He shook his head, continuing. "No. Poker. High stakes. Instead of cash, you play for years."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Dean asked.

"Look, I know it sounds crazy. Guy comes up to me at a bar, invites me to play. Gives me twenty-five of these weirdo poker chips, right?" He asked, looking between the three of us. "Chants some mumbo humbo over them, says now they're twenty-five years. I'm laughing, but then I come out up. And look at me." He said, holding his arms out to the side.

"What was he chanting?" I asked.

"How should I know?" Cliff laughed. "All I know is, my bad hip's good, I threw away my glasses. One of those ladies was here for free!"

"That shows a lot of accomplishment." I mumbled quietly, glancing over at Sam with an eye roll. He snickered, nodding.

"Man's some kind of miracle worker."

Dean nodded. "And what does this miracle worker look like?"

"Just a guy." Cliff shrugged. "Maybe thirty-five, brown hair. Irish accent. His name was Patrick-"

"Alright, alright. Where's this game at?"

"He said he likes to keep moving. Never stays in one bar long. And he finds you."

"Thank you, Cliff." Sam muttered as we headed for the door.

"Oh, and, uh...stay classy." Dean mumbled, leaning back into the room.

* * *

The three of us headed down the small street, the sunlight pouring down on us. I was following through with the promise I'd made, calling Bobby to keep him up to date with everything that was happening.

"It sounds crazy, right?" I asked, glancing up at Sam who just shrugged.

" _No. There's lore on it. Goes back centuries. Traveling card player pops into town. You beat him, you get your best years back. 'Course, most folks lose._ " Bobby's gruff voice sounded over the phone.

"Well, that would explain Mr. Xavier."

" _Supposedly, this player's a hell of a card shark. Got a lot of years in the bank. You find the bar he's working in yet?_ "

"There's a lot of dives in this town. We're gonna have to split up." I explained.

" _Well, why you still talking to me?_ " Bobby sighed, hanging up the phone. I glared down at mine, shaking my head.

* * *

 **BAR – NIGHT  
** DPOV

Inside the fairly crowded bar, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket, pulling it out to see Tori's name flash on the screen. I quickly answered, pressing the phone to my ear.

" _Find anything?_ " Her voice asked over the receiver.

"Yeah, a whole bunch of squat." I mumbled. "You?"

" _Not a thing._ "

"Alright." I sighed. "Well, you and Sam come up dry, circle back to the motel in two. Your turn to grab dinner."

" _The usual?_ "

"Extra bacon."

" _Dean-_ "

"I know, I know. It's not healthy. I'll start tomorrow." I smirked, practically hearing her eyes roll around in her head. I hung up with a sigh, placing the phone back in my pocket as the bartender walked past. "Can I get a beer?"

"Yep." He answered, reaching for a bottle.

"You wouldn't happen to know of a poker game going on in back, would you?"

"It's a bar, not a casino."

I took a deep breath, reaching to my pocket for some cash. Looks like bribing was the only way to get answers out of this guy. "My friend Ben told me you'd know."

"Don't know any Ben."

"Sure you do. You know, balding, smart-ass, real ladies' man?"

"Listen, pal, I told you, I don't know any Ben." He said, leaning forward. "I don't know nothing about a game."

"You sure? 'Cause, uh..." I slid the hundred-dollar bill across the bar. "He sure seems to know you."

The bartender glanced up at me, slowly taking the money. After he spilled the beans, I followed his directions, walking around the back of the bar where a small elevator sat. There were a few boxes blocking my view of it. Suddenly, I heard the crunch of wheels on gravel as Bobby rolled around the corner.

"Bobby? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Planting daisies. What's it look like? Came in on the case." He said, looking up at me.

"And you beat me here?" I asked, astonished.

"Well, brains trumps legs, apparently."

"So, you found the game?"

"Yup." Bobby nodded, rolling past me.

I caught up to him, walking beside the wheelchair. "Did you stop it? Bobby?"

"Not exactly."

"What did you do?"

"I played, okay?"

"And?"

"I lost."

"Are you kidding me?" I huffed. "You played some- some he-witch?"

"Don't you take that tone with me."

"You idiot!"

"They're my years! I can do what I want!"

"How many did you lose?"

"Twenty-five." Bobby admired, his hair suddenly turning lighter, graying.

I shook my head, turning back to the elevator. "We're not done."

* * *

 **MOTEL – NIGHT  
** TPOV

Both Sam and I each grabbed a few of the bags full of fast food while I took the small tray of drinks before getting out of the Impala, walking up to the building. We hadn't found Patrick so we decided to start fresh in the morning.

"Could you believe anyone would be stupid enough to bet years of their life in a dumb game?" I asked, pulling out the small key to the motel door.

"I know. We gotta stop this before more idiots get hurt." Sam said. I nodded, opening the door. As we entered, I heard some movement in the bathroom, assuming it was Dean.

"Babe, we're back. Find anything?" I asked, placing the bags on the table.

"Uh, you might say." An older sounding voice came from the bathroom.

Sam quickly moved me behind him, pulling out his gun as an old man with white hair stepped out in a bathrobe. "Who the hell are you!"

"Dude, relax. It's me." The old man muttered, shaking his head. I narrowed my eyes at him, pushing Sam's hand down slowly. He shot me a confused look as I stared at the man in front of us.

"Dean?" I called in a quiet voice.

A sheepish smiled spread across his face as he looked down at me. "Hi."

"What the hell happened?"

"I, you know, found the game." Dean said, making his way over to the bag on the table, plucking one of the burgers out, unwrapping it.

"You f-" Sam stopped, shaking his head as everything processed. "I thought you said you were g-good at poker."

"I am. Shut up. So, you were just gonna shoot some old guy? Is that it?" Dean asked, taking a big bite out of the burger in his hands, chewing it slowly. I started feeling as though I was in some kind of twilight zone.

"I didn't know what you were. I mean, have you seen you? You look like-"

"The old chick in _Titanic_. I know. Shut up."

"I was gonna say _Emperor Palpatine_." Sam laughed nervously.

"More like _Bea Arthur."_ I mumbled.

"So funny." Dean commented, his mouth full of food. I pulled one of the chairs out behind me, plopping down in it as my thoughts raced a mile a minute, panic beginning to fill me.

What the hell were we supposed to do now?

The door burst open with a thud against the wall, startling me. "I see you met _John McCain_ there."

"Bobby?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "What the hell?

"Either of you want to tell us what happened?" Sam asked, placing a hand on my back as he tried to get me to drink from the cold bottle of water in his hands so I wouldn't completely lose my mind.

"Bobby's an idiot. That's what happened." Dean said, taking another bite of his food.

"Hey, nobody asked you to play." Bobby muttered, looking up at Dean.

"Right. I should have just let you die."

"And for damn sure, nobody asked you to lose!"

Sam grinned down at me, poking my shoulder. "It's like _Grumpy Old Men_."

I laughed lightly, thankful that Sam was here to cheer me up. Dean and Bobby both turned to Sam, yelling _shut up, Sam_ in unison.

"What the hell were you thinking? He's a witch. He's been playing poker since guys wore tights." Dean said.

Bobby shook his head. "You just don't get it."

"Yeah, I get it, Bobby. You saw a chance to turn the hands of the clock back and get out of that damn chair. Pretty tempting. I can imagine."

"No, you can't."

"You got me. I never been paralyzed. But I'll tell you something- I've been to hell, and there's an archangel there wanting me to drop the soap. Look at me!" Dean exclaimed, gesturing to himself. "My junk's rustier than yours! You hear me bellyaching? Huh?"

"Actually, yeah." I muttered, looking over at him. I stood up from my chair, glancing back and fourth between Dean and Bobby. "I'm so angry with you two. I cannot believe no matter what you could possibly gain, that you would be idiotic enough gamble away whatever years your dumb asses are lucky enough to have left on a stupid poker game run by a witch! Morons!"

Sam chuckled behind me, staring over at the two very reprimanded looking men in front of us.

"Ow..." Dean whispered, slowly sitting down. "I'm having a heart attack."

"What?" I asked, fear spreading through me as I bent down in front of him. "Baby?"

"No, you're not." Bobby grumbled.

"What is it?" Dean asked, looking over at him while taking deep breaths.

"Acid reflux. Guys your age can't digest certain foods. You're gonna need to put down that cheeseburger." Bobby said. Dean sighed, looking down at the burger in his hands. I quickly grabbed it, angrily throwing the stupid thing on the table. "So, you want to keep emoting, or you want to talk about solving this little issue of yours? It's got to be about the chips."

"I slid them across, Patrick did his little witchy number, and you prettied up in a hurry." Dean said, rubbing his chest. I sat down on the floor by his feet, rubbing my temples.

I could feel a migraine coming on and I just wanted to slam my fist through something. Preferably either Bobby or Dean's face. Maybe both.

"I mean, what are you thinking?" Sam asked. "Some kind of magic chips or something?"

Bobby nodded. "Definitely."

"You remember what he chanted?" Dean asked Bobby.

"Yup. Every word."

"Alright, then let's find out where he stashes his chips." Sam said.

"And steal me fifty. Benjamin Button me back into burger shape." Dean smirked down at me, leaning back in his chair. "What do you think?"

I glanced up at him out of the corner of my eye, getting a very clear eyeful from where I sat as his robe parted. "I think you should go put some clothes on."

Dean furrowed his brow, looking down at me with a confused expression until I nodded towards his crotch. Bobby grumbled, shaking his head as he looked away. Dean quickly pulled the robe back over, covering himself as he got up to grab some clothes, heading in the bathroom to get dressed while I cleaned up some of the stray pieces of lettuce that had flown out of the burger I threw before. Sam was sitting in a chair next to Bobby, his head resting in his hand.

"Dean's been in there for a while now...think he broke a hip?" Sam asked, glancing up at me.

"Don't even say that." I muttered.

There was a light knock at the door as Dean stepped out of the bathroom, fully dressed this time. I was about to answer it when he stepped in front of me, swinging the door open. A pretty, young maid with long black hair stood there, an arm full of towels, smiling up at him. "Ready for housekeeping, sir?"

"Born ready." Dean smirked suggestively. I shook my head, grinning over at Sam, who was trying not to laugh.

"You're just like my grandfather." She laughed, shaking her head, pushing past him into the room. "He hits on anything that moves, too." Dean glanced back at me, the smirk on his face quickly fading away. I shrugged, raising an eyebrow at him, an amused look on my face. "You're adorable."

"A- and dangerous." He muttered with a nod.

"Aw." She chuckled, glancing over at me as she headed to the bathroom.

I walked up behind Dean, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Tough break, kid."

"Can we just go?" Dean huffed, looking down at me with sad eyes.

"Aw, you really are adorable." I smiled up at him, pinching his cheek. Dean swatted my hand away, trudging outside.

* * *

 **VAN – NIGHT**

The four of us sat in Bobby's van parked out in front of the bar where they'd found Patick. We'd been here for at least a couple hours, and my eyes were starting to droop. I leaned my head on my arm, which was resting on the door. I was really starting to think this guy would never show his face.

Dean nudged my knee, pointing out into the street. "That's him."

I looked up to see a man with dark hair exited the building in front of us, checking his watch as he crossed the street. Headlights sped down the road and the car hit the man just before he could get out of it's way.

"Oh my god." I muttered, watching as the driver quickly got out of his car, bending down to check the man he'd hit.

The driver ran over to a small group of construction workers that were mulling around the front of the bar, speaking to them. I stared on as another car passed by us, m mouth dropping open when I realized Patrick was in the driver seat and no longer in the road.

"I got to say, I kind of like the guy." Dean laughed next to me, shaking his head.

Sam quickly started the van, following Patrick to a skyscraper, where he disappeared inside. I rolled my eyes, leaning back in the seat. We waited another hour or so for Patrick to come out and when he did, he quickly jumped into his car, driving off.

Knowing now that he was gone, we got out of the van, heading inside the apartment building. Dean held open one of the big glass doors as I rolled Bobby into the lobby.

Bobby sighed, nodding over to the elevator that was apparently not working. "Well, I'm out."

"Be careful, okay?" I said, turning back to face him.

I could tell that he wanted to argue, but he stopped himself, flashing me a small grin. "I will."

The rest of us made our way to the stairs, jogging up them quickly. It wasn't until I heard labored breathing behind me that I stopped, turning around. Dean was more than a few steps behind us, holding onto the railing tightly.

"Dean?" I called, gaining he attention. He glanced up at me in question, taking in big breaths. I nodded over to a sign on the wall with a big two on it. Dean stopped moving, glaring at it for a moment before staring up again. "You sure you wanna do this?"

"Yeah."

"'Cause you can totally sit this one out-"

"I'm doing it."

"Okay." I nodded, turning to follow Sam back up the stairs.

The two of us made it to Patrick's apartment quickly. Sam bent down in front of the door, going to pick the lock. I glanced back nervously, noticing that Dean hadn't quite made it up here yet. I was about to go check on him when he slowly rounded the corner, breathing like he'd just run a marathon.

"You okay?" I asked as he made his way over to me.

"Perfect." Dean breathed out, closing his eyes as he leaned against the wall. Sam quickly opened the door, heading into the apartment. I followed close behind, looking around the pristine room.

The carpet was perfectly white, along with the walls. There was a black rug in the middle of the floor pared with black furniture. I started sifting through random things, trying to find the chips. It took a few minutes before Dean called us over, standing in front of an open armorer.

"Dime-store model. Piece of cake." Dean said, pulling the false back out, revealing a small safe. Dean bent down a bit, turning the dial. Sam and I watched on as he squinted, not being able to see the small numbers clearly.

"It's like _Mission: Pathetic_." Sam huffed, pushing Dean out of the way. "Watch out."

Dean glanced over at me, a sour look on his face as Sam got to work, quickly opening the safe where about a bunch of poker chips sat.

"I could have done that." Dean mumbled. I rolled him eyes, holding some of the chips Sam passed to me.

"What are you doing?" I jumped, turning around at the strange voice, seeing a blonde woman stood there, her arms folded.

"Aren't you the chick from the bar?"

"I'm a lot more than that." She grinned, clenching her fist in the air. Dean doubled over in pain next to me, holding his stomach.

"Dean!" I exclaimed placing my hands on his shoulders as he groaned in pain. I looked up at her with gritted teeth. "Stop it."

She rose an eyebrow, clenching her fist tighter. Dean groaned louder, holding his stomach tighter. I lunged at her, feeling Sam quickly hold me back. Patrick walked out of the room behind her, putting a hand on her arm.

"It's alright, sweetheart. It's alright. They're harmless." He said to her sweetly. She nodded, opening her hand. Dean let out a gasp as I quickly helped him stand upright, glaring at the woman as she grinned at me. "You want chips? Take 'em. They're just chips, Einsteins. It's showmanship. This may come as a shock, but the magic does not lie in a pile of crappy plywood or in any phony abracadabra. It's in the nine-hundred-year-old witch. You want years? Score them the old-fashioned way. Texas hold 'em."

"Fine." Dean said. "Let's do it."

"No." I muttered through gritted teeth, looking up at him. Patrick pulled out a card from his pocket, holding it up. It was an eight of hearts.

"What card am I holding up?" He asked Dean with a grin. Dean glanced down at me, a sheepish look on his face as he squinted back up at the card. "That's what I thought. If your eyesight's that bad, what about your memory? I'm not a murderer." Patrick said, looking at Sam. "You, on the other hand..."

"No." Dean said, shaking his head.

"Dean." Sam scolded.

"What, Sam not much of a player? Okay, well, happy trails, Dean. Enjoy the twilight of your life. Should have taken better care of that ticker, though."He said. I glared up at the man as he looked down at me for a moment before turning his head to the side. "You're free to go."

We were about to walk out when Patrick stepped towards us."Oh, but, Sam...your brother's situation, that's punishment enough, but I can't let you leave without a small parting gift." He smiled, clapping three times.

Sam glared up at him. "What are you doing?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

"Let's get out of here, Sam." Dean said, pulling his brother away from Patrick, who laughed, closing the door behind us.

* * *

The three of us headed to the front door of the building, seeing Bobby's van parked across the street. Sam stepped around us, opening the door. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him subtly trying to scratch the inside of his thighs.

"Sam?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Dude..." Dean muttered, a smirk spreading across his face. "I believe that he-witch gave you the clap."

Sam glared at his brother, shaking his head at he stomped off. Dean glanced back at me with a laugh.

* * *

 **MOTEL – DAY**

The sun began to shine down on us by the time we got back to the motel. I rolled Bobby up the slight incline of the parking lot while Sam and Dean walked in front of us.

"You know, I still think I should play." Sam said, looking at the ground.

Dean stopped, shaking his head at Sam. I huffed, standing in place behind Bobby. "No. You're not good enough. I'm better. Bobby's way better. We both lost."

"Exactly." Bobby nodded.

"So, what? So I don't get a say in this anymore?" Sam asked, throwing his arms out to the side.

Dean sighed. "Sammy, when you get to be our age-"

"You're thirty, Dean." I reminded him.

Sam glanced over at his brother. "Look, I've watched you hustle plenty of poker-"

"Knowing the game is not enough, Sam." Bobby interjected. "It's not about playing the cards."

"It's about playing the other guy. I know that."

"Well, hooray for you. All I'm saying is, I played this guy. I know his style. I can take him."

"No, Bobby. You don't have enough years in the bank." Dean said, turning towards him. I pulled in a deep breath, taking in everything that was happening in front of me.

"I got enough."

"No, you'll die if you lose, Bobby." Sam said, looking down at him with sad eyes.

"So what if I do, huh? What exactly am I living for, huh? The damn apocalypse? Watching men die bloody while I sit in this chair, can't take a step to help 'em?"

"Bobby-" I started, looking over at him. He shook his head, stopping me.

"No, no. It's the facts. I'm old...and broke down...and I can't..." Bobby paused for a moment, taking in a breath. "I ain't a hunter no more. I'm useless. And if I wasn't such a coward, I'd have stuck a gun in my mouth day I got home from the hospital."

Everyone was quiet. There was no more arguing, just silence.

"Bobby, you are not playing again. I'm not letting you do that. There's another way out of this. There's got to be. And I'm gonna find it." Sam said after a few minutes had passed. Without letting anyone speak another word, he turned, heading to the motel.

* * *

Dean and I were left alone while Sam and Bobby went to go get some food that Dean could actually eat without feeling like he was having a heart attack. I sat at the table, flipping through a random book that was lying there. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dean sitting on the bed, staring blanking at the TV.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Huh?" Dean murmured, glancing over at me. "Oh, yeah."

"How do you feel?"

"Old."

With a sigh, I shut the book, getting up from my chair to walk over to Dean, stopping by the side of the bed. Dean glancing up at me, not reaching out to wrap an arm around my waist like he normally would've.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Your hands aren't all over me." I muttered with a small smile.

Dean shrugged. "I didn't think you want me to."

"What?"

"Well, you know, I'm- I'm _old_."

I chuckled. "And?"

"I kinda thought you'd think it's gross."

"I don't know some older guys are pretty hot. Remember back in Wisconsin? That high school we went to for, like, a week? I was sixteen."

"Yeah?"

"Remember the art teacher?"

"...yeah..." Dean nodded, his eyes widening at my suggestive glance. "You didn't!"

"We did. On his desk. In his classroom."

"Tori, he was like, forty!"

"Yeah, and he looked Pierce Brosnan." I said with a laugh.

"I never knew about that."

"Well, you never really asked."

"So, you're telling me you have no problem getting with me while I'm like, eighty, just because you had sex with an art teacher in high school who was forty…?"

"Dean, you're still you. Plus, if we ever do make it to this age...this is what you're gonna look like." I smiled sitting to his side, smiling suggestively. "And I think I could deal with that."

"Oh…?"

"Yeah."

"You are a freak." Dean smiled.

"Mhm." I grinned, placing a gentle kiss on his lips.

Just then, the sound of the door opening caught my attention as Sam and Bobby entered the room. Sam paused, looking between the two of us in disgust. "Oh, come on guys."

"Oh." Bobby grumbled, rolling his eyes. "My god."

"What? We didn't do anything."

"You were about to." Sam said.

I bit my lip, glancing over at Dean before returning my gaze to Sam. "Yeah. Yeah, probably."

"That's gross. You'd do it with an eighty year old?"

"It's really none of your business." I said, folding my arms.

"But if you must know, I still got it." Dean chimed in with a wink.

"Yeah, you do."

"Would the two of you shut up and get your minds out of the gutter? This is serious!" Bobby scolded. Dean and I shared a look as I headed over to the table, grabbing a salad from the bag, bringing it back to him.

"What's this?" Dean asked, taking the container from me.

"It's a salad, Dean." Sam said, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, yeah, I know, but why do I have it?"

"Because it's healthy."

"So?"

"Baby, you need to keep yourself in good shape until we get all this figured out." I said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Fine." Dean sighed, taking the lid off, shooting a grimace at the vegetables, poking them with his fork.

"You know, that salad is just like a burger." Sam said, taking a bite of his own salad.

"Shut your mouth."

"Dean, everything in there is on a burger."

"What? No it's not."

"Yeah, it is. Lettuce. Tomatoes, onions...all of that is on a burger."

"Okay, then where's the meat? And cheese?"

"Well, it's like a deconstructed veggie burger."

"That's disgusting." Dean complained, lifting a piece of lettuce to his mouth, taking the tiniest, little bite.

There was a knock at the door, something neither one of us were expecting at this time of night. Sam got up, opening the door to reveal the blonde woman from the apartment standing there, holding out a piece of paper. "Take it. It'll help you."

Bobby pushed past Sam, rolling over to her. "What is this?"

"The most powerful reversal spell you've ever laid your eyes on."

"And it reverses what?" Sam asked.

"Patrick's work. All of it."

"You're saying I could be normal again?" Dean asked, sounding hopeful.

"You and everyone else he's ever played." She paused, looking down. "Everyone who's still alive."

"Why the hell should we trust you?" I asked, stepping near Sam.

"Trust me, don't trust me. I don't care." The spell is real."

"If it zaps everyone, don't that include your man?" Bobby asked.

"And me, too." She nodded. "I look good for my age."

I shook my head, looking over at her as she made her to way to the door. "This doesn't add up. Why would you want that?"

"I have my reasons." She muttered, playing with the sliver locket hanging from her neck. "Do it quick. We leave town tomorrow." I watched as she left, closing the door behind her.

"I don't believe that."

"What do you think it is, then?" Dean asked, pulling out one of the chairs.

"I just wouldn't count on it, is all." I said, sitting next to him.

"What else are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know." I muttered, reading the spell. "Among other insane things, we need his DNA? How are we supposed to get that?"

"He is always chewing on that toothpick." Bobby said with a shrug. "I could go get it."

"Yeah Bobby play him for the toothpick."

There was no possible way this spell was going to work. I didn't believe it for a minute.

"No, you idjit, I'll distract him and grab the toothpick when he's not looking."

"How?"

"I'll go." Sam said.

"No way in hell." Dean huffed, shaking his head.

"I can do this, Dean."

"No, Sam. I said no. I'll go, I'm already old."

"That's stupid. I can do it." Sam said, glancing over to me for help.

"Sam, I don't know." I shook my head.

"By the time you guys do the spell, everything will be fine."

"I don't even think this spell is real."

"Listen, Bobby isn't playing again. Dean isn't playing again. I won't let them."

"Then I'll go."

"I need to do this." Sam said, looking over at us. "I can do this."

* * *

 **BAR – NIGHT  
** SPOV

I couldn't explain why I needed to do this, but I did. I needed to know that Dean meant what he said when he told me this would be a two-way street. And finally, he agreed to me going. Not that I would't have done it anyway.

Riding the elevator to the second floor, I found Patrick sitting at a table – a glass of whiskey in front of him, the toothpick in his mouth, chewing on it lightly as the man in front of him starting sweating bullets, looking down at his cards.

"Bet." The man muttered.

"I sense you've got me by the jewels on this one, Hesh. I fold." Patrick said, placing his cards on the table. The man collected his chips greedily. "What are you up, like thirteen years there, Hesh? What do you say we call it a day?"

"Thanks, Patrick." Hesh chuckled, standing up. I stood behind him, staring down at Patrick.

A grin spreading across his face when he spotted me. "Hesh here is gonna live to see his granddaughter's bat mitzvah. Isn't that right, Hesh?"

"Thanks again, Patrick."

"Shalom, my friend. Shalom." Patrick muttered, shuffling the cards as Hesh got up and left.

"That was nice of you." I said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm a nice guy." Patrick said, looking up at me. "What can I do you for?"

I slowly sat down in front of him, taking a deep breath. "Deal."

* * *

 **GRAVEYARD – NIGHT  
** TPOV

At the cemetery, Dean and I were digging into the grave while Bobby sat on the outside of it, watching us.

"Jawbone of a murderer. Great." Dean panted. "You know, this really sucks."

"Less flappin' and more diggin'." Bobby grumbled.

Just as Dean went to push his shovel into the dirt again, a loud crack echoed through the air. "Oh, God!"

"Jesus, are you alright?" I asked, looking over him in concern.

"My elbows. I'm all creaky."

"Hurry up, you crybaby." Bobby complained.

"Pound it up your ass, Ironsides."

"One little grave."

"Then you do it."

"Fine. I'll hop right in."

"Well, least your legs are numb."

"Shut up and dig, Grandma."

"Would you two shut the fuck up already!?" I shouted, glaring at the men. A short silence fell over us as the two men did, in fact, shut up and Dean and I began digging again.

"Oh, ow." Dean mumbled, holding onto his lower back.

"Butt cheek tingling?" Bobby asked.

"Well, that's kind of personal."

"So yeah?"

"Maybe."

"It's sciatica. You'll live. Now keep digging."

"You know, Bobby, killing you is officially on my bucket list." Dean said, harshly pushing the shovel back into the dirt, letting out a cry of pain as he stayed bent over.

"Okay, that's it." I huffed. "Get out. I'll finish this myself."

"You know, a little sympathy wouldn't hurt."

"I swear to God, Dean, get out before I make you." I said through gritted teeth.

"Alright, alright." Dean mumbled, slowly hopping out of the grave, standing beside Bobby.

* * *

 **BELOW BAR - NIGHT  
** SPOV

"I like you, Sam. I do. You're smart, and your heart's clearly in the right place." Patrick said. I didn't answer, staring straight ahead at him. He, throwing his tooth pick down on the table, drinking some of his whiskey, looking over at me. "I can tell a lot about someone just by looking."

"You're psychic?"

"No. That'd be cheating. I'm talking about good old-fashioned intuition."

"Right." I nodded, glancing down at the table. "Let's just play."

"We are playing." Patrick said with a smile, taking another sip of his whiskey before placing the glass on the table. He took his toothpick out, laying it next to the glass. "Does your big brother know you're here?"

"Bet five." I mumbled, dropping five of my chips in the pile.

"Didn't think so." Patrick smirked. "I raise. Here you are, right? Trying to clean up their mess, and they still want to sit you at the kiddie table." I looked down at the chips on the table, thinking over my options. "You're not a the little brother anymore, Sam. Then again, maybe you are. You're in over your head here. I mean, you can keep making these moves- you know, playing it cautious, playing the percentages. But I'm still gonna kick your ass into the nursing home."

"Does this armchair-psychology routine usually work for you?" I asked, looking up at him.

"You tell me." He laughed, placing the toothpick back in his mouth. "You're the one who's losing." I took a deep breath, hearing Lia's heals click on the floor as she entered the room. Patrick put the toothpick back on the table as she bent down to kiss him, glancing up at me with a wink."Little break?" …..

As fast as I could, got down to the alleyway looking around the alleyway, spotting Tori walking over to me with a concerned look in her eyes. "How's it going in there?"

"How do you think it's going? What about you? I thought Dean was supposed to meet me?" I asked, wondering why he wasn't here.

"Yeah, he wanted to, but I needed a minute away from the both of them. Those two old bats haven't stopped bickering. It's driving me insane."

I chuckled, feeling a little relieved. "You have everything you need?"

"Yeah. Just need a little he-witch DNA." She said. I held up the toothpick, handing it to her.

"He was chewing it."

"Okay."

"I don't like you being in there." Dean muttered, looking down at me.

"I know. Just hurry up, okay?" I asked, flashing a small smile at him.

"Okay."

"Hurry up. Please."

"We will. Just keep him busy. And, whatever you do...don't lose."

* * *

Back at the table, I saw down watching as Patrick sat in front of me, the blonde standing behind pushed another deck of cards across the table, spreading them out in front of us, stopping for a moment, glancing up at me. "Question."

"What?"

"Is this what you meant to give your big brother?" He asked, holding up another toothpick. I just stared at it, trying to not let the panic I was feeling inside show on my face. "The one you gave him never passed my lips. Won't do a scrap of good. I don't like cheating, Sam."

* * *

TPOV

Back outside the bar, Bobby began to read from the paper Lia had given us while I threw items into the burning bowl in front of us.

"Airmidh mi air maponus, dia na hogalachd. Gairmidh mi air sucellus, dia na time." Bobby chanted as I tossed a handful of herbs into the flames, watching them flare up blue. "Till an-dràsda obair uile gu bheilair a bhith deànta. Mar sin bitheadh. Drop it in."

Dean nodded, throwing the toothpick into the fire, looking between Bobby and I. "Well? How do I look?"

Neither Bobby or I wanted to answer, because the truth was...eighty.

* * *

SPOV

Patrick threw the toothpick on the table, glaring up at me. As he clenched his fist on top of the table, I suddenly felt as though someone was choking me. I tried to take in a breath as my throat closed.

"Stop it!" Lia yelled, grabbing Patrick's wrists. "Patrick, let her go!"

"He tried to kill us!"

"I did it! I gave him the spell!" Lia exclaimed, looking down at Patrick. He furrowed his brow, letting me go. I felt the rush of air being released back into my burning lungs, finally able to breathe again.

"What?" Patrick asked, shocked as stood placing a hand on the blonde's face. "Why would you do that?"

"You know why. You know.

Patrick looked away from her for a moment before sitting back down in front of me, his eyes trained on the table. "Keep. Playing."

* * *

TPOV

In the drivers seat of the van, I sped down the road on our way to Patrick's apartment, Dean next to me and Bobby behind us. "Everything we put in that spell was kosher."

"Yeah, everything except the damn toothpick." Dean muttered.

"You got to go get a speck of DNA."

"I know." I nodded, stopping the van in front of the building, noticing that Dean was about to get out. "What are you doing?"

"I'm coming." Dean replied. "Two of us looking is better than one."

"I'll have the apartment clean before you even reach the third floor. Just stay here." I pleaded, watching Dean nod once before I got.

Once I broke into the apartment, I looked around frantically for something – anything with his DNA on it. But I couldn't find a single damn thing. Not even a toothbrush.

* * *

SPOV

"Well, look at you, the percentage player betting the farm. Awful transparent of you, Sam. I mean, if I had a monster hand like you have, I'd trap you. But you get so excited, you bet yourself right out of a big pot." Patrick said, turning over his cards. "I fold. Set of ladies, I'm guessing."

Without saying a word, I collected a couple dozen chips, turning over my cards, the three of clubs and five of diamonds for one pair of queens.

"Nice bluff." Patrick said, smiling up at me. "If we had time, I could make a real player out of you."

"I've got time."

"Maybe. But I can't say the same for Dean. Your brother's gonna be dead soon. And when I say soon, I mean _minutes_." Anger flared through me and I stood, but Patrick quickly yanked me back down into my seat, shaking his head. "The game's not over till I say it is. Blinds."

* * *

TPOV

As I moved around the room, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, quickly answering it. "Yeah?"

" _Vic, get down here now._ "

"Why?"

" _Dean's not doing so good._ " Bobby muttered. I felt my heart drop and I quickly shoved the phone back into my pocket, rushing out of the room.

* * *

SPOV

"So." Patrick sighed, spreading three cards out on the table. "When it's about your brother, you get so emotional, your brain just flies right out the window. Good to know."

"Go to hell." I hissed, shoving all my chips to the middle of the table. "I'm all in."

Patrick shook his head at me. "Don't do that."

"I can't leave until it's over? Fine. It's over. Now, where's my brother?"

"Look, there's poker and then there's suicide."

"Just play the hand."

"Fine. I'm sorry, kid. Aces full." Patrick muttered, pushing all his chips in. I looked at the cards, taking a breath, glancing up at Lia, hearing her sniffle.

"You're crying. For a witch, you're so nice, it's actually kind of creepy. It's okay." Admittedly, I felt kind of bad for her, something about all of this was clearly bothering her. I glanced back at Patrick, nodding. "It was a great hand."

"That it was." Patrick moved to collect all the chips, glancing up at me as I placed my cards on the table.

"Just not as great as four fours."

"Well played. You know, that whole...going-out-of-your-head bit...very method. There's more to you than meets the eye."

"Cash these in for Dean, please."

"With pleasure."

* * *

TPOV

Pushing the door open, I ran over to the van, my heart pounding with worry. Just before I reached the vehicle, the door slid open, revealing Dean, who now looked thirty again. My eyes widened as he got out of the van with his hands out to the side, jumping and clicking his heels. I smiled, running over to him, jumping into his arms.

"I'm back, baby!" Dean exclaimed with a smile, holding onto me.

"Idjits." Bobby grumbled from inside the van, shaking his head.

* * *

 **MOTEL – DAY**

Back at the motel, the four of us were reunited. I sat at the table next to Dean, who was munching happily on a burger. I couldn't help but smile at him. He'd never learn.

"No tricks- you actually beat the guy?" Bobby asked, raising an eyebrow at Sam, who just shrugged. Bobby shook his head, a proud look in his eyes. "How the hell?"

"Just lucky." Sam smirked, slipping on his jacket.

"Good for you, Shorty." I smiled.

"Thanks. Hey, I'll see y'all guys later."

"Where you going?"

"Uh...mm, nowhere." Sam muttered, looking down. I raised an eyebrow at him, exchanging looks with Bobby and Dean. Sam sighed, glancing up at us. "A booster shot. Don't say it." I nodded, holding back my grin, looking down to the table as Sam slipped away, closing the door behind him.

"Well, I guess we can get the van loaded." Bobby said, looking up at us.

"Hey," Dean started, clearing his throat. "I shouldn't have called you an idiot."

"Which time?"

"I'm sorry. I mean, I actually- I- I- I get it. Getting old ain't a bachelor party. And dealing with the shit you got to deal with-"

"Don't you go on pity patrol."

"I'm not. I'm not. I'm just- I'm saying, you know, if I was in your shoes..."

"You'd never stop complaining." Bobby said, glancing over at me. I nodded along, agreeing.

"Fair enough." Dean said, smiling at me. He turned back to Bobby, a serious look on his face. "You're not useless, Bobby."

"Okay. Good talk." Bobby grumbled, heading towards the door.

Dean quickly got up, standing in front of him. "No, wait a minute. Listen to me. You don't stop being a soldier 'cause you got wounded in battle. Okay? No matter what shape you're in, bottom line is, you're family. I don't know if you've noticed, but me Sam and Tori, we don't have much left. We can't do this without you. We can't. So don't you dare think about checking out. I don't want to hear that again."

A long silence passed, as Dean's words sunk it. I couldn't help but smile at him.

"Okay." Bobby nodded.

"Okay. Good."

"Thanks. Now, we done feeling our feelings? 'Cause I'd like to get out of this room before we both start growing lady parts." Bobby complained. I chuckled as Dean pursed his lips, shaking his head.

"Yeah, we're done." Dean said. After putting the last few of my things away, I grabbed a couple of the bags along with Dean as he looked back over at Bobby. "Let's go, Ironsides."

"Oh, that one's sticking, huh?" Bobby asked, following Dean out the door. Dean just glanced back at him with a smile before making his way to the van.

* * *

 **I love Bobby. Like so much.**

 **Thanks for reading. I hope you guys liked it!**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction**


	9. Changing Channels

_Trapped in a box, four walls as sky  
Got a screen for a window about two feet wide  
My mind rides and slides as my circuits are fried  
No room for thought, use a box as my guide  
Tapped in a box_

 _Trapped in a box_  
 _Watch the world as it flocks_  
 _To life's paradox_  
 _We're all trapped in a box_  
 _….._

 _Always wanting a different view  
Instant gratification for you  
Reality gone with a single click  
I just hope that that switch won't stick_

 _Trapped in a box, my life becomes void  
And all of the thoughts for myself's now destroyed  
Controlling my mind  
What to eat, what to buy  
Subliminal rules  
How to live, how to die  
Trapped in a box_

 _ **No Doubt – Trapped In A Box**_

* * *

After spending a few more days with Bobby at his house, we found an interesting looking case in Wellington, Ohio, which is where we were currently, about to head out to the police station. I made my way out of the bathroom, smoothing back the bun I just put my hair into, moving over to Dean, who was sitting on the foot of the bed, staring intently at the TV.

"What are you watching?"

Dean glanced up at me before quickly looking back to the screen. "Hospital show. _Dr. Sexy, MD_. I think it's based on a book."

"I'm sorry, did you say _Dr. Sexy, MD?_ "

"Yeah."

"First _Oprah_ , now this? When did you hit menopause?"

"It's called channel surfing." Dean huffed, shutting the TV off.

"Where's Sam?"

"Outside." Dean said, grabbing his jacket off the chair. "You ready?"

"Yeah." I mumbled. "Are you? Or do you need to spend some more time with _Dr. Sexy?"_

Dean shook his head, grabbing the keys, stomping out. I chuckled, under my breath, slipping on my jacket as I followed him.

* * *

 **WELLINGTON POLICE STATION – DAY**

"One more time, the FBI is here why, exactly?" The sheriff asked, raising an eyebrow at us.

"Might have something to do with one of your locals getting his head ripped off." Dean said.

"Bill Randolph died from a bear attack."

"How sure are you that it was a bear?" Sam asked.

"What else would it be?"

"Well, whatever it was, it chased Mr. Randolph through the woods, smashed through his front door, followed him up the stairs, and killed him in his bedroom." I said pointedly. "Is that common around here, a bear doing all that?"

"Depends how pissed off it is, I guess. Look, the Randolph's live way up in high country. You got trout runs to make a grown man weep. And bears."

"Now, what about Mrs. Randolph?" Sam asked. "The file says she saw the whole thing."

"Yes, she did. My heart goes out to that poor woman.

"She said bear?"

"Kathy Randolph went through a hell of a trauma. She's confused."

"What did she say?"

"You can go as her for yourself. She's in there." He said, gesturing to an interview room.

The three of us made our way inside, alerting Kathy to our presence. "Hi Kathy. Mind if we ask you a few questions?"

"I've already told the cops everything."

"I know." Dean nodded. "We're FBI."

"FBI?"

"Yes."

"Just tell us what you saw, Ms. Randolph." Sam muttered sympathetically.

"A bear."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes. t must have been a bear. I mean, what else could it have been?"

"What do you think it was?"

"No, I- I remember clearly now. It was definitely a bear." She lied.

"We're sure it was. But see, it helps us to hear every angle. So just tell us what you thought you saw." I said, smiling over at her.

"It's impossible, but...I could have sworn I saw... _the Incredible Hulk_."

The smile fell from my lips as I raised an eyebrow at her. " _The Incredible Hulk_?"

"I told you it was crazy."

"Bana or Norton?" Dean asked, looking over at her.

"Oh, no, those movies were terrible. The TV Hulk."

"Lou Ferrigno?" I asked, sharing a tired look with Sam.

"Yes."

"Spiky-hair Lou Ferrigno." Dean muttered.

"Yes." She nodded, letting out a sigh. "You think I'm crazy."

"No." I shook my head slowly. "Uh, no, it's just...is there any reason that _Lou Ferrigno_ , _the Incredible Hulk_ , would have a grudge against your husband?"

"No."

"No. Right. Well, thanks for you time."

* * *

 **MOTEL – DAY**

Back at the motel, Dean and I were both doing research on the Randolph's, finding some very interesting things.

"Hey." Sam called, stepping into the room.

"Find anything?" Dean asked, looking up at him from his laptop screen.

"Well, uh, I saw the house."

"And?"

"There is a giant eight-foot-wide hole where the front door used to be. Almost like a-"

"A Hulk-sized hole."

"Maybe" Sam shrugged, nodding to the laptops. "What'd you find?"

"Well, it turns out that Bill Randolph had quite the temper. He had two counts of spousal battery, bar brawls, and court-ordered anger management sessions." I told him.

"You might say you wouldn't like him when he's angry." Dean added.

"So a hothead getting killed by TV's greatest hothead." Sam muttered. "Kinda sounds like _just desserts_ , doesn't it?"

I glanced up at him, shaking my head, having a feeling that I knew where he was going. "You think?"

"It's all starting to make sense."

"How is it starting to make sense?" Dean asked, looking between the two of us.

"Well, I found something else at the crime scene." Sam said, pulling a handful of candy wrappers out of his pocket. "Candy wrappers. Lots of them."

"Just desserts, sweet tooth, screwing with people before you kill them." Dean shook his head. "We're dealing with the Trickster, aren't we?"

"Sure looks like it."

"Good. I've wanted to gank that mother since _Mystery Spot_."

"You sure?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, a weird feeling washing over me.

The trickster was a jerk, sure. But for the most part he was a jerk that only killed jerks and loved candy and women. Maybe he'd hate the apocalypse.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"No, I mean are you sure you wanna kill him?"

"Son of a bitch didn't think twice about icing me a thousand times." Dean said, looking over at me. "I thought out of anyone, you'd want to kill him the most."

"No, I know. And believe me, I do. I want him dead. But, I'm just saying..."

"What are you saying? If we don't kill him, then what?"

"It's just, I got a weird feeling from him the last time I saw him. And I don't know, maybe we could...talk to him?"

"Talk to him? What?"

"He's one of the most powerful creatures we've ever met. Maybe we can use him."

"For what?"

"Well, maybe he doesn't want his giant, world-wide party to end. Maybe he hates this angels and demons stuff as much as we do. Maybe he'll help us."

"You're serious?" Dean asked incredulously.

"Yeah."

"Ally with the Trickster."

"Yes."

"A bloody, violent monster, and you wanna be _Facebook_ friends with him? Nice, Tor. Great idea."

"No, no. Maybe she's right." Sam said, to which Dean snorted. "The world is gonna end, Dean. We don't have the luxury of a moral stand. Look, it's worth a shot.

"And if it doesn't work, we'll kill him." I added.

"How are we gonna find the guy, anyway?" Dean asked with a sigh.

"Well, he never takes just one victim, right? He'll show."

* * *

The police scanner had been echoing static through the room for hours now and there was barely a peep. With a sigh, I rested my head in my hands while Dean sat on the foot of the bed, sharpening a wooden stake. Sam had begun to fall asleep next to me, his arm on the table and his head resting on it.

" _Dispatch? I- I got a possible 187 out here at the old paper mill on Route 6?" A_ voice came through the scanner. I smacked Sam lightly on the shoulder, waking him up.

" _Roger that. What are you looking at there, son?"_

" _Honestly, Walt, I- I wouldn't even know how to describe what I'm seeing. Just send everybody._

" _Alright, stay calm, stay by your car. Help's on the way._

"That sounds weird." Dean muttered as I reached to turn off the scanner.

"Weird enough to be our guy." Sam said.

* * *

 **WAREHOUSE – DAY**

Exiting the Impala, the three of us stared up at the old-looking warehouse in front of us. The ringing in my ears got a bit louder, but I ignored it, chalking it up to being some extra commotion going on upstairs.

"There was a murder here, and there's no police cars. There's nobody. How's that look to you?" Dean asked, glancing over at me.

"Shitty." I mumbled, grabbing the stake Dean handed to me as he pulled them out of the trunk along with a couple flashlights.

Hesitantly, we walked up to the building, entering with caution. As I blinked, we passed through light blue door, walking into a bright hallway where a few people were mulling around in lab coats and scrubs. I looked around the room, noticing that the three of us were also dressed in lab coats all of a sudden.

"What the hell?" Dean asked, looking over at me as two people passed by, acknowledging us with a nod, each of them mumbling _doctor._

"Doctor?" I asked, looking over at Dean, who turned back to the door we'd just walked through, opening it to reveal a man and woman making out.

Dean quickly closed the door, looking around with wide eyes. Just as I turned back around, a brunette woman walked up, staring at Sam with angry eyes.

"Doctor." She mumbled, before slapping him across the face.

"Ow!" Sam exclaimed, rubbing his cheek.

"Seriously."

"What?"

"Seriously? You're brilliant, you know that? And a coward. You're a brilliant coward."

"What are you talking about?"

With a huff, she slapped him again. "As if you don't know!"

"Hey, hey. Why don't you back off?" I called, stepping towards her. She glared at me for a moment before turning on her heels and walking away. I looked back up to Sam, who was still rubbing his red cheek.

"I don't believe this." Dean muttered.

"What?"

"That's Dr. Piccolo."

"Who?"

"Dr. Ellen Piccolo." Dean said, turning to me. I just shrugged having no idea who that was. "The sexy yet earnest doctor at Seattle Mercy Hospital."

"Dean, what the hell are you talking about?" Sam asked.

"The doctor getups. The, the sexy interns. The _seriously's_. It all makes sense."

"You're the only one it's making sense to, Dean." I said.

"We're in _Dr. Sexy, MD_."

"Excuse me? We're in a TV show? How?"

"Beats me, but we are." Dean said as we began to walk down the hospital hallway.

"What the hell?"

"I don't know." Sam shrugged.

"No, seriously, what the hell."

"I don't know."

"One theory." Dean interjected. "Any theory."

"Uh, the Trickster trapped us in TV Land?" Sam shrugged.

"That's your theory? That's stupid."

"Hey, you're the one who said we're on _Dr. Sexy, MD_."

"Yeah, but TV land isn't TV Land. I mean, there's actors and, and lights and crew members, you know. This looks real."

"It can't be." I said, looking around. "How can this possibly be real, Dean?"

"I don't know."

"Exactly. It's not."

"There goes Dr. Wang. The sexy but arrogant heart surgeon." Dean muttered, watching a woman walk past by a man sitting on gurney. "And there's Johnny Drake. Oh, he's not even alive, he's a ghost in the mind of her." He nodded to another one, who staring over a the gurney with sad eyes. "The sexy yet neurotic doctor over there."

"Is everyone supposed to be _sexy_ here?"

"Yes."

"And...this show has ghosts?" Sam asked, turning to Dean. "Why?"

"I don't know." Dean shrugged. "It is compelling."

"I thought you said you weren't a fan." I said, smirking back at him. " _Just channel surfing_."

"I'm not. I was."

"When did you ever even get the chance to watch this? And please don't tell me you watch it after I fall asleep."

Dean opened and closed his mouth a few times before something caught his eye behind me and he stared over my shoulder with wide eyes, his mouth morphing into a little o. "Oh boy."

"What?" Sam asked, glancing behind us.

"It's _him_."

"Who?" I asked, turning around to see a tall man with shoulder length brown hair walking up to us.

"It's him, it's Dr. Sexy."

"Doctor." The man nodded to Dean, who sheepishly glanced down to the floor, trying to hide the small smile on his lips.

I stared at him with wide eyes as he all but giggled. " _Doctor_."

The man turned to Sam, nodding. "Doctor."

"Doctor." Sam nodded back.

"Doctor." Dr. Sexy muttered to me. I just stared up at him with a grimace, feeling Dean smack my arm lightly.

"Doctor." I mumbled with an eye roll.

"You want to give me one good reason why you defied my direct order to do the experimental face transplant on Mrs. Biehl?" Dr. Sexy asked, turning to Dean.

"One reason?" Dean asked, watching as the man nodded. "Sure."

Dean glanced down at the ground before snapping his eyes back to the doctor, slamming him against the wall. My mouth popped open as I watched him stare up at the man. "Whoa, are you gonna make out?"

Dean rolled his eyes at me, turning back to the man. "You're not Dr. Sexy."

"You're crazy." He muttered.

"Really? Because I swore part of what makes Dr. Sexy, sexy is the fact that he wears cowboy boots. Not tennis shoes."

"Yeah. You're not a fan." Sam said.

"Oh my god." I mumbled, shaking my head.

"It's a guilty pleasure." Dean shrugged.

"It's scary."

"Call security!" The doctor yelled out.

"Yeah, go ahead, pal. See, we know who you are." Dean said, shoving him harder against the wall.

Suddenly, everyone around us froze, only the four of us still moving. And right before our eyes, _Dr. Sexy_ changed into the Trickster, who smiled. "You guys are getting better!"

"Get us the hell out of here!" I ordered, taking a step forward.

"Or what?" The trickster asked, quickly grabbing Dean's arm, twisting it around, holding him in place. "Don't say you have wooden stakes, big guy."

"That was you on the police scanner, right? This is a trick." Dean strained against his grip.

"Hello? _Trickster_."

"Let him go." I said through gritted teeth.

"If I don't?" The Trickster smirked, pushing Dean away. "I heard you three yahoos were in town. How could I resist having a little fun?"

"Where the hell are we?"

"Like it? It's all homemade. My own sets, my own actors...call it my own little idiot box."

"How do we get out?" Dean asked.

"That, my friend, is the sixty-four-dollar question."

"Whatever. We just- we need to talk to you. We need your help." I said.

"Hm, let me guess. You three muttonheads broke the world, and you want me to sweep up your mess."

"Just five minutes. Hear us out and we won't kill you."

The trickster smiled, shaking his head as he stared over at me. "Listen Princess, you couldn't kill me even if you wanted to."

"Do you really want to see us try?"

"Tell you what. Survive the next twenty-four hours and we'll talk."

"Survive what?" Dean asked.

"The game!"

"What game?"

"You're in it."

"How do we play?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're playing it."

"What are the rules?"

Without answering, he vanished in a cloud of static and the scene around us began to play again.

" _Paging Dr. Sexy. Report to the ER."_

"Oh, by the way. Talking with monsters? Hell of a plan." Dean muttered, looking over at me. I let out a huff, folding my arms. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know. I'm just trying to process your little moment back there." I said, folding my arms. Sam chuckled next to me.

"What moment?"

"That gay moment you had with _Dr. Sexy."_

"It was not a _gay_ moment."

"Dean, you blushed!"

"You know what? I'm not having this conversation." Dean huffed, turning around to leave. I shared a look of amusement with Sam as we followed after him. Suddenly, Dr. Piccolo walked up, taking another swing at Sam.

"Lady, what the hell?" I exclaimed, pushing her away.

She shook her head, tears in her eyes as she looked up at Sam. "You are a brilliant, brilliant-"

"Yeah. A coward. You already said that." Sam nodded. "But I got news for you. I am not a doctor."

"Don't say that. You are the finest cerebrovascular neurosurgeon I have ever met, and I have met plenty. So that girl died on your table. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't anybody's fault. Sometimes people just die."

"I have no idea what you're saying to me." Sam said dryly, shaking his head.

"You're afraid. You're afraid to operate again. And you're afraid to _love."_ She cried out, sobbing as she left again.

"Yeah, we need to get out of here." I mumbled, heading in the direction Dean went.

Not too long after, Sam and I caught up with Dean, a man walked up behind us, tapping Dean's shoulder lightly. "Hey. Doctor."

Dean stopped, turning to face him. "Yeah?"

"My wife needs that face transplant."

"Okay. You know what, pal? None of this is real, and your wife doesn't need jack-shit. Okay?" Dean said as the three of us turned and walked away from the man.

"Hey, Doctor!" The man called. Suddenly, I heard the loud ring of a gunshot in the small hallway, turning around just as the man lowered his gun. Dean turned around, staring after the guy for a moment before sinking to his knees.

"Real. It's real."

"No, no, Dean!" I muttered, sinking to the ground with him.

"Hey! We need a doctor!" Sam called out, looking around the room frantically as I tried to keep Dean upright.

* * *

I stood rather awkwardly next to Sam in the operating room, staring at Dean as he laid face down on the table in front of us. Sam held a small piece of cotton to the bullet wound with tweezers, handing them to me he placed another piece of cloth over the wound.

"BP is eighty over fifty and dropping." The blonde across the room said.

"Doctor." Dr. Wang muttered, holding a scalpel out to Sam, who just stared at it.

"Sam, do something." I muttered, glancing up at him.

Sam leaned across me, bending down to speak to Dean and I in a hushed tone. "I don't know how to use any of this crap."

"Figure it out." Dean mumbled from the table. "Sam. Come on. I'm waiting."

Sam stood upright, looking over at the blonde doctor. "Okay. Um. I need a penknife, some dental floss, a sewing needle, and a fifth of whiskey." Sam said. Everyone just stood around, staring at him with blank expressions. "Stat!"

* * *

I kept a hand on Dean's shoulder as Sam cut the last piece of dental floss with scissors before placing them down next to the nearly empty bottle of whiskey. I had to admit, I was the one to finish most of that, not Dean.

"We okay?" Dean asked. "How's it looking?"

"Pretty good. You'll be fine." I said, patting his shoulder.

Suddenly, the room stared to blur and loud clapping stared in the distance. Out of nowhere, a big door in front of me was being opened, with smoke around it. I looked down at myself, raising an eyebrow at the skimpy dress I was in, the top of my boobs nearly overflowing out of it.

I glanced to my left to see a Japanese man and woman, who was dressed the same as me, walking out onto a stage. I cautiously followed them, my eyes going wide when I saw Sam and Dean out there, the both of them locked by their feet to a platform with a pole in front of them, a large red ball at the end of it.

"Let's play nutcracker!" The man yelled, walking in between Sam and Dean. I glanced up at Dean, sharing his confused look as the man pulled a card out of his jacket, turning to Sam, asking him something in Japanese.

Sam glanced down at me. "What?"

"I don't know." I shrugged.

"Countdown." The man said.

"What?" Sam asked, turning to Dean. "Uh, what am I supposed to say?"

"You think I know?" Dean asked.

"Uh, I- I don't- I don't understand Japanese." Sam said to the man, who just smiled at him. Sam looked back to Dean and I. "Is he screwing with me? I- I- I can't speak Japanese."

"The answer is...Ruby!" The host yelled suddenly.

"Ruby?" I repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, Sam Winchester."

"Sorry? Sir? For what?" Sam asked, staring over at the host as he pushed me over to a small stand with a big red button on it, nodding down to it with a smile.

"What?" I asked, glancing up at the man, who pushed my hand towards the button.

"Tori?" Sam called nervously.

"I don't- I don't-"

I hovered my hand over it for a moment, very hesitant about hitting it, when the man slammed my hand down on the button. I watched with wide eyes as the pole on Sam's platform flew up, hitting him right in the crotch. I let out a small yelp, covering my mouth with my hands as Sam crouched down in pain.

"Nutcracker!" The host yelled out as the crowd cheered.

"I'm sorry, Sam!" I called out, biting my lip. Sam just grunted in response, holding his...area.

"You okay?" Dean asked. Sam glanced up at him, narrowing his eyes at his brother. Dean nervously looked at the pole in front of him, staring at it with wide eyes. I glanced behind me as the lights on the doors started flashing and more blue smoke poured out.

"Oh now what?" I asked, as the doors opened, revealing a familiar face that I was actually glad to see. "Cas?"

"Is this another trick?" Sam asked.

"It's me." Cas replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Us? What are you doing here?" Dean asked.

"Looking for you. You've been missing for days."

"So get us the hell out of here, then!" I said, grabbing onto him as he reached up to touch Sam and Dean.

"Let's go." Cas nodded, vanished in a burst of static.

"No, no. Mr. Trickster does not like pretty-boy angels." The host said, shaking his head, looking to Dean. "Dean Winchester." The man began speaking Japanese again, asking Dean his question. "Countdown."

"What do I do- what do I do?" Dean asked, staring to panic. "I don't wanna get hit in the nuts."

"I don't know, I- I- just- wait." Sam muttered. "I played a doctor."

"What?"

"In- in _Dr. Sexy_ I played a doctor. I operated on you."

"So?

"So I played the role the Trickster wanted me to play. Maybe we should just go along with it.

"Go along with what?

"With the game!" I exclaimed. "You know, we're on a game show, right? So just answer the question!"

"In Japanese?"

"Yes!"

"I don't know Japanese!

"Try or get hit in the nuts."

Dean shot me a hard look before hitting the button in front of him, answer in Japanese.

"Dean Winchester, Nutcracker champion!" The host exclaimed.

"How did you do that?" Sam asked, looking over at Dean with wide eyes.

"All those years of watching Japanese porn really did pay off, I guess." I said. Dean narrowed his eyes at me, shaking his head.

"So that's it. We play our roles, we survive."

"Yeah, but play our roles for how long?"

"Good question."

* * *

In the blink of an eye, the scene changed again. I glanced around the room, noticing a few dimly lit candles around me as I sat on a big bed with rose petals spread across it. I looked down at myself, noticing I was only wearing a sheer red robe and lacy white underwear. I felt the bed dip behind me and turned around to see Dean sitting by the pillows in only white satin pajama pants, Sam at the foot of the bed, wearing the same pants, only in red.

"Please tell me this is not what I think it is." I mumbled just as _Let's Get It On_ stared playing in the background, the boys and I shared wide-eyed looks. "No."

"This is so not happening." Dean said, glancing over at his brother.

"There's no way." Sam said, shaking his head, his face full of disgust.

I huffed, looking up to the ceiling. "You're seriously gonna make us do this? Honestly?"

"I'm sorry, were you talking to me?" The Trickster asked suddenly standing behind me, a hat with the word _director_ written across it.

"What is wrong with you? We are not having a threesome."

"No, you're not. Pick one."

"What?"

"Remember what I said? Play your roles."

"Fuck you and your _roles_." I snapped. "You can wait all day you sick asshole, cause it's not gonna happen. I'll sit here for the rest of forever if I have to."

"You don't have that option."

"Oh, yes I do. I don't have to listen to you. Or anyone else."

The Trickster got a strange look in his eyes, staring down at me. "We'll see about that."

* * *

My eyes snapped open and instead of being in a dark room, I was now in a brightly lit bathroom. I looked down at myself, seeing that I was wearing a pair of underwear and tight fitting tank top. I heard Sam's voice from outside, then some applause, turning the doorknob, but it wouldn't open.

"Hey there, Sam. What's happening?" Dean asked, a smile in his voice.

"Oh, nothing. Just the end of the world. You're gonna need a bigger mouth." Sam said. My eyes went wide and I shook the doorknob even more, but it still wouldn't budge. "Hey, uh, have you done your research yet?"

"Oh, yeah. All kinds of research. All night."

Suddenly, the door flew open and I stumbled out of the bathroom. There was a huge sandwich in the middle of the table Sam and Dean were standing next to, both boys looked over to me with wide eyes as loud applause came from the _audience,_ whistles and cat calls sounding. The three of us stayed silent for a moment, staring at each other. I glanced around the room, seeing the silhouettes of people sitting in front of the small set we were on.

"So, that research?" Sam asked. "What'd you find out?"

"Oh, lots."

"Like what?"

"Well, it was very... _in depth_." I said, looking over at Dean with a small grin.

"You didn't do any actual research did you?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No." I mumbled with a sheepish smile as another laugh track played.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes as Sam playfully narrowed his at Dean and I. "You two."

"How long do we have to keep doing this?" Dean asked through a forced smile.

"I don't know." Sam muttered as the applause got louder. "Maybe forever?"

"I'll kill myself." I murmured as another laugh track played.

"How was that funny?" Dean asked, shaking his head. "Vultures."

Suddenly, the door opened again as Cas walked in, a few scrapes and cuts on his face.

"Cas? Are you okay?" I asked, looking over at him.

"I don't have much time." He replied.

"What happened?" Sam asked.

"I got out."

Dean glanced over at me before looking back to Cas. "From where?

"Listen to me. Something is not right." Cas said, looking over at me. "This thing is much more powerful than it should be."

I furrowed my brow. "The trickster?"

"If it is a trickster."

"What do you mean?" I asked, watching as Cas was flung into the wall. I glanced over at the opened door as the trickster appeared there.

"Hello!" He called out as the cheers and applause got louder. "Thank you. Thank you, ladies. Hi, Castiel!" Cas stood to his feet, turning to face us, his mouth duct-taped shut. The trickster smiled as Cas vanished.

"Where did you just send him?" Dean asked.

"Relax. He'll live...maybe."

"Alright, you know what? I am done with the monkey dance, okay? We get it."

"Yeah? Get what, hotshot?"

"Playing our roles, right? That's your game?"

"That's half the game."

"What's the other half?" I asked, watching him closely, something about what Cas had said sticking with me.

"Play your roles out there."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, you know." The trickster muttered, turning to me. "Sam starring as Lucifer. Dean starring as Michael. Victoria starring as the catalyst. Your celebrity death match. Play your roles."

"You want us to say yes to those sons of bitches?" Sam asked.

"Hells yeah. Let's light this candle!"

"We do that, the world will end."

"Yeah? And whose fault is that? Who popped Lucifer out of the box? Hm? Look, it's started. You started it. It can't be stopped. So let's get it over with!"

"Heaven or hell, which side you on?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Which side are you on?"

"I asked you first."

"I'm not on either side." The trickster said, looking at me intently.

"Yeah, right." Dean scoffed. "You're grabbing ankle for Michael or Lucifer. Which one is it?"

"You listen to me, you arrogant dick. I don't work for either of those S.O.B's. Believe me."

"Oh, you're somebody's bitch."

The smiled disappeared from the tricksters face as he grabbed Dean by the collar, shoving him against the wall. I took a step forward but Sam held me back.

"Don't you ever, ever presume to know what I am. Now listen very closely. Here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna suck it up, accept your responsibilities, and play the roles that destiny has chosen for you." The trickster finished, glancing back at me "All of you.".

"And if we don't?" I asked, raising a challenging eyebrow at him.

"Then you'll stay here in TV Land. Forever. Three hundred channels and, uh, nothing's on." The trickster grinned, snapping his fingers.

* * *

A huge line of police tape surrounded a small crime scene where a few people walking around a body with a large stomach wound. I played with the sunglasses covering my eyes, shaking my head as I turned around to face the boys.

"Oh, come on." Dean mumbled.

"This is stupid." I muttered, looking down at my suit. "At least I'm wearing actual clothes."

"So, what do you think?" An officer asked, walking over to us.

"What do I think?" Dean asked, turning to him. "I think go screw yourself, that's what I think."

"Uh, could you give us a sec, please?" Sam asked, turning to Dean and I as the officer moved away. "You gotta calm down."

"Calm down? I am wearing sunglasses at night." Dean huffed, ripping them off. "You know who does that? No-talent douchebags." I shrugged in agreement as Dean as he continued. "I hate this game. I hate that we're in a procedural cop show and you wanna know why? Because I hate procedural cop shows. There's like three hundred of them on television and they're all the fucking same. It's _ooh, plane crashed here-_ oh _,_ shut up.

"Hey."

"What?"

"Check out sweet tooth over there." Sam muttered, nodding to a man with a lollipop.

"Think that's him?"

"I don't know guys." I shook my head.

"Just, um, follow my lead." Sam said, slipping his sunglasses back on. With a sigh, Dean and I followed suit, moving over to the crime scene with him.

"You, uh, you okay?" The cop asked.

"Yeah." Dean nodded. "What do we got?

"Well, aside from the ligature marks around his neck, he has what appears to be a roll of quarters jammed down his throat." The officer said, crouching down next to the body.

Sam pealed his sun glasses off slowly, staring down at the body. "Well I say...jackpot."

The officer snorted, shaking his head. "Also, there is a stab wound to the lower abdomen."

Dean grabbed a stick off the ground, poking the hole in the shirt before slipping his glasses back on. "Well, I say...no guts, no glory."

"Get that guy a...Tums." Sam muttered, gently nudging me with his elbow when I didn't say anything.

"Gutter ball." I mumbled dryly, rolling my eyes beneath my glasses.

"Good one, guys." The officer muttered, watching Dean as he walked around him. Dean quickly stabbed him with the steak and the man dropped to the ground, struggling to breathe as he laid there.

I glanced to my left as another officer walked up, laughing as he morphed into the trickster. "You've got the wrong guy, idiots."

"Did we?" I asked, shoving the stake into his back.

Suddenly there was a loud burst of static around us and we were back in the warehouse from before. I looked down to the ground at my feet, seeing the trickster laying there with the stake still in his back.

* * *

 **MOTEL – DAY**

"I'm worried. What that SOB did to Cas. You know, where is he?" Dean asked, coming out of the bathroom as I pulled a bottle of water out of the refrigerator

"I don't know." I mumbled, turning back around as Dean looked around the room.

"Where's Sam?"

"What do you mean? He's right there." I said, turning to the now empty chair where Sam had just been sitting. "Sam?"

As we rushed out to the parking lot, I held the phone to my ear, only getting Sam's voicemail in response.

"Sam. It's me. Where the hell did you go?" I asked into the phone as Dean and I slid inside the Impala.

"I don't get it, I mean where the hell could be possibly be?" Dean asked, turning to me as he went to put the keys in the ignition.

I was about to answer when I thought I heard Sam's voice faintly. I quickly glanced around the car, not finding him anywhere. "Sam? Where are you?"

" _I don't know._ " He responded, his voice strangely robotic. Dean pointed to a red light on the dashboard that flashed with every word Sam said.

"Shit. I don't think we killed the Trickster."

"Okay, stake didn't work. So, what, this is another trick?" Dean asked as started the car, beginning to drive down a long road.

" _I don't know. Maybe the stake didn't work because it's not a trickster?_ " Sam asked.

"What do you mean?"

" _You heard Cas. He said this thing was too powerful to be a trickster._ "

"And did you notice the way he looked at Cas? Like he knew him."

" _And how pissed he got when you brought up Michael and Lucifer._ "

All the gears were turning in my head as I remembered every time the ringing in my ears got louder. I just assumed it was angels in heaven. I realized now how stupid I was being. "Shit."

" _What_?"

"I think I know what we're dealing with."

* * *

After parking the car in a small park clearing, I leaned on the back of the Impala as Dean looked in the trunk, rummaging through everything in there to find what he was looking for.

" _Dean?_ "

"What?" Dean asked.

" _That feels really uncomfortable_." Sam mumbled. Dean rolled his eyes, slamming the truck down. " _Ow. You sure this is gonna work?_

"No. But it's the only thing that makes sense to me right now." I said.

Dean let out a sigh, looking up into the sky. "Alright, you son of a bitch! Uncle! We'll do it!"

" _Should I honk?_ " Sam asked.

"Wow. Sam. Get a load of the rims on you." The trickster muttered with a grin, appearing out of nowhere.

" _Eat me._ "

"Okay. Ready to go quietly?"

"Whoa, not so fast." Dean shook his head. "Nobody's going anywhere until Sam has opposable thumbs."

"What's the difference? Satan's going to ride his ass one way or another."

"Just do it." I said, shooting a hard glare at the trickster. He rolled his eyes with a sigh before snapping his fingers. Behind me, I heard the car door open, turning to see Sam stepping out, making his way over.

"Happy?" The trickster asked, looking over at me.

"Sure. Just tell me one thing. Why didn't the stake kill you?"

"I am the Trickster."

"Or maybe you're not." I shrugged, tossing the lighter in my hand down on the ground in front of him. The ring of fire spread quickly as his eyes widened. "Maybe you've always been an angel."

"A what?" The trickster laughed incredulously. "Somebody slip a mickey in your power shake, kid?"

"I'll tell you what." Dean started, taking a small step closer to the ring of fire. "You just jump your ass out of that holy fire and we'll call it our mistake."

Suddenly there was another burst of static around us and we were once again back in the warehouse from before. Only this time, I knew it was real. The ringing in my ears was suddenly so loud, I almost couldn't even hear my own thoughts.

"Well played. Where'd you get the holy oil?"

"Well, you might say we pulled it out of Sam's ass."

"Where'd I screw up?" He asked, looking over at me. "I thought I kept your little bells at bay."

"You almost did." I said. "No, it wasn't really that."

"Nobody gets the jump on Cas like you did." Sam muttered.

Dean shrugged. "Mostly it was the way you talked about Armageddon."

"Meaning?

"Well, call it personal experience, but nobody gets that angry unless they're talking about their own family." Sam mumbled, raising an eyebrow. "So which one are you? Grumpy, Sneezy, or Douchey?"

"Gabriel, okay? They call me Gabriel." He said.

My eyes widened as I stared over at him. "Gabriel? The _archangel_ Gabriel"

"Guilty."

"Really? _You_?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, really."

"Well, that's a bit underwhelming." I mumbled as he narrowed his eyes at me.

"Okay, _Gabriel_. How does an archangel become a trickster?" Dean asked.

"My own private witness protection. I skipped out of heaven, had a face transplant, carved out my own little corner of the world. Till you three screwed it all up."

"What did Daddy say when you ran off and joined the pagans?"

"Daddy doesn't say anything about anything. Never said a word about Camael dropping out of heaven, never said a word about me leaving, never said a word about the apocalypse."

"Then what happened? Why'd you ditch?"

"Do you blame him?" I asked. "I mean, his brothers are douchebags."

"Shut your cakehole. You don't know anything about my family. Which by the way, you should be a little nicer, don't you think? Considering they're your family, too." Gabriel said.

"Why don't you answer the question you were asked, _Gabriel_?" I snapped, taking a step towards him.

"I did." He said with a smirk.

"Not that. The one about why you left your family."

"You listen, I love my father, my brothers. Love them. But watching them turn on each other? Tear at each others throats? I couldn't bear it! Okay? So I left. And now it's happening all over again."

"Then help us stop it."

"It can't be stopped."

"You wanna see the end of the world?" Dean asked.

"I want it to be over! I have to sit back and watch my own brothers kill each other thanks to you! Heaven, hell, I don't care who wins, I just want it to be over."

"It doesn't have to be like that" Sam said, shaking his head. "There has to be some way to, to pull the plug.

"You do not know my family. What you guys call the apocalypse, I used to call Sunday dinner. That's why there's no stopping this, because this isn't about a war. It's about a family that loved each other and betrayed each other. You'd think you'd be able to relate."

"What are you talking about?"

"You sorry sons of bitches. Why do you think you two are the vessels? Think about it. Michael, the big brother, loyal to an absent father-" Gabriel said, gesturing to Dean before turning to Sam. "-and Lucifer, the little brother, rebellious of Daddy's plan. And you." He nodded to me. "The middle child torn between two people they love. And just like Camael, you'll have to choose. You'll become an angel either way."

"What?" Dean asked, looking over to me.

"Oh, yeah. You didn't figure that out already? If she takes the grace, she becomes a full-fledged archangel." Gabriel smiled at Sam and Dean's shocked looks. "That's right, _arch_ angel. With enough juice to help take down either Michael or Lucifer. You were born to this. It's your destiny! It was always you! _As it is in heaven, so it must be on earth_. See, Camael picked Michael. He choose to put Lucifer in his cage. But Tori, well, Luci knows you better than you know. And he knows that with enough pushing, you just might pick him instead."

I shook my head, glaring at him. "I won't."

Gabriel grinned, looking to Sam and Dean. "But she can only pick one side. Because that's what she's always done. She's always picked _one_ side. Either Sam, or Dean. But never the both of you." He shook his head. "Why do you think I've always taken such an interest in you? Because from the moment Dad flipped on the lights around here, we knew it was all gonna end with you. Always."

Sam and Dean shared a long look, both shaking their heads as they turned back to Gabriel.

"No." Dean muttered. "That's not gonna happen."

"I'm sorry. But it is." Gabriel sighed, "Guys. I wish this were a TV show. Easy answers, endings wrapped up in a bow...but this is real, and it's gonna end bloody for all of us. That's just how it's gotta be. So. Now what? We stare at each other for the rest of eternity?"

"Well, first of all, you're gonna bring Cas back from wherever you stashed him."

"Oh am I?"

"Yeah. Or we're going to dunk you in some holy oil and deep-fry ourselves an archangel." I threatened with narrowed eyes.

"You've got a mouth. Just like your grandaddy." Gabriel smiled, what almost seemed to be a look of sadness crossing his eyes before he snapped and Cas suddenly appeared behind us.

"Cas, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He replied. "Hello, Gabriel."

"Hey, bro. How's the search for Daddy going? Let me guess. Awful." Gabriel mumbled. Cas glared over at Gabriel, not saying a word.

"Okay, we're out of here." Dean muttered, turning on his heel. "Come on."

"Uh, okay...guys?" Gabriel called out as Sam followed his brother to the doors of the warehouse. I stayed standing next to Cas as Gabriel looked at us with worried eyes. "So, so what? Huh? You're just gonna, you're gonna leave me here forever?"

I shared a look with Cas before the two of us turned and headed back towards Sam and Dean.

With a sigh, Dean glanced back at Gabriel. "No. We're not, 'cause we don't screw with people the way you do. And for the record? This isn't about some prize fight between your brothers or some destiny that can't be stopped. This is about you being too afraid to stand up to your family."

Dean pulled the fire alarm, glancing back at Gabriel once more before leaving. Cas walked with us as we moved across the dirt to the Impala.

"All that stuff he was spouting in there, you think it was the truth?" Dean asked.

"I think he believes it." Sam nodded.

"So what do we do?"

"I don't know."

"Well I'll tell you one thing." Dean muttered, glancing over to me before looking at the ground. "Right about now I wish I was back in a TV show."

"Yeah, me too." I nodded, glancing back to Cas before sliding into the backseat. Dean watched me until I got inside the car before sitting in the driver seat, starting the engine, driving away from the warehouse.

* * *

 **I'm on a roll! ;D**

 **Gabriel is the best.**

 **Thanks for reading, guys I hope you liked it!**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction**


	10. The Real Ghostbusters

_Sometimes I wish that we could all forget  
Your figure fades into a silhouette  
But I hear you breathing  
I'm done believing.  
We're painting portraits but the canvas is blank  
If this life is a gift then who do we pay?  
You're desperate for the answer  
It eats at you like cancer  
..._

 _Your head is filled with unproven thoughts_  
 _Twisting theories into bigger knots_  
 _And I feel you dreaming_  
 _You're done believing_  
 _Tried to avoid this but I'm weak to the bone_  
 _My inner compass points me to the unknown_  
 _But I still keep running faster_  
 _Someday I'll find the answer_

 _Tonight won't ever end  
Can we pretend, pretend, pretend?  
I don't want this to end  
So I'll pretend, pretend, pretend again  
Pretend, pretend, pretend  
Tonight won't ever end  
Can we pretend, pretend  
Pretend instead?_

 _Lights turned low, lights turned low  
Cause I don't wanna see this go  
So can I just pretend, pretend, pretend instead? _

_**Bad Suns – Pretend**_

* * *

On the request of a pretty frantic looking text from Chuck, we immediately got into the car and drove all night long passing an old fashioned sign that read _Welcome to The Pineview Hotel_. As we approached the building, I spotted Chuck pacing back and forth on the bottom step of the hotel. Dean pulled the Impala in the closest parking spot he could find and the three of us got out.

I kept my eyes on Chuck as I started to walk over to him when Dean stopped short in front of me. I looked up to see a shocked look on his face and glanced behind myself, following his gaze to a huge lineup of Impalas. My mouth dropped open a bit, and I stood there in shock.

"Hey. Come on." Sam said, grabbing both of our arms to pull us towards the steps once again. "Chuck! There you are."

Chuck turned around quickly at the sound of Sam's voice, a surprised look on his face. "Guys?"

"What's going on." Dean asked, glancing towards the Impalas, then back at Chuck.

"Ah, nothing. You know, I'm just kinda hanging. What are you guys doing here?"

"You told us to come." I told him, a confused look on my face. What was wrong with him?

"Ah, no I didn't."

"Yeah you did, you texted me. This address, life or death situation. Any of this ringing a bell?" Sam asked.

"I didn't send you a text."

"We drove all night!" Dean exclaimed with a huff. He didn't want to come here to begin with, and Sam and I would definitely have to hear about how he was right later on.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what could..." Chuck paused, a look of realization coming over him. "Oh no."

"What?" I asked.

Just then the hotel door burst open to reveal someone I hoped to god I'd never have to see again in my life. She looked just the same – short, with shoulder length mousy brown hair and wide eyes. "Sam! You made it!"

Sam's eyes were wide as can be as he took a deep breath. "Oh, ah, Becky, right?

"Oh, you remembered." She muttered, bounding down the stairs, pushing Chuck out of the way slightly to stand right in front of Sam, leaning in a bit, lowering the volume of her voice. "You been thinking about me."

"I...uh-"

"It's okay. I can't get you out of my head either." She grinned. I bit my lip trying my hardest to not laugh for Sam's sake. I glanced to my right at Dean, who – like always – was amused by his brothers discomfort.

"Becky, did you take my phone?" Chuck asked.

"I just borrowed it from your pants."

"Becky..."

"What?" She asked innocently. "They're going to want to see it!"

"See what?" Both Sam and Dean asked at the same time, confusion on their faces.

"Oh my god. I love it when they talk at the same time!" She squealed, clapping her hands.

A man holding a clip board peaked out the door, nodding at Chuck. "Hey Chuck? Come on pal, it's showtime."

Without another word, Becky went running back up the stairs like a headless chicken.

Chuck nodded to the man before turning back to us. "Guys. I'm sorry. For everything."

Sam, Dean and I shared a confused look and -very reluctantly- followed him up the stairs. As we entered the foyer of the hotel, a large man walked past us, glancing over at Dean. "Hey Dean, looking good."

"Who the hell are you?" Dean asked. The guy turned back around, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm Dean, too. Duh." He mumbled obviously I noticed the clothes he was wearing, and the fact that they were identical to something Dean would wear. He even had the same necklace as Dean and I suddenly felt exponentially creeped out. "Nice _Tori_ , by the way!" The guy added, winking at me before heading into another room. I glanced up at Dean, who was staring after the him.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

Dean shrugged. "I have no idea."

We turned around to Sam, who had the same confused look as we did. A man wearing a scarecrow mask ran up to us, waving his sythe around. "Uh-oh. It's the Winchesters. I'm in trouble now. Have fun you guys."

The guy mock screamed, shoving the sythe in my face. I batted it away, shaking my head at him. He shrugged and went on his way. Becky off to the side, giggling her dumb little ass off.

Dean placed a hand on my hip, looking completely baffled. "What?"

The three of us scanned the room, which seemed to be getter smaller and smaller by the second as a bunch of people mulled around. They were all dressed up as various creatures and...people from our lives. There was even a woman dressed as Bobby.

Quite a few tables were covered in coffee cups with a drawing of the Impala on the side and all of Chucks books. Probably even more stuff, but I couldn't take looking anymore and turned to face Becky, who hadn't stopped giggling.

"What the hell is this?" I asked, annoyance clear in my voice.

"It's awesome! A supernatural convention, the first ever!" She excitedly grabbed my hand, trying to drag me into the room filled with all those people. "Come on!"

"No way."

I pulled my hand out of her grasp and she looked offended for a moment, then smiled again. "You just don't understand."

"I don't want to understand."

"Just come on." She sighed, turning to head into the room behind her. I turned back to Sam and Dean, who just stood in there looking confused.

"Don't make me go in there alone." I huffed, turning into the room.

Just as I glanced behind to make sure they were following me, I bumped into someone and looked up to see a shouter girl, about the same height as Becky, with long brown hair staring back. She wore a black bomber jacket and gray tank top... just like I would. A necklace slightly similar to mine in color hanging from her neck. I stared at her for a second, a very uncomfortable feeling passing through me.

Dean walked up behind me then and the girl smiled appreciatively at us. "Wow, you guys really pull that look off."

"What?" I asked, turning around to face Dean, who looked as uncomfortable as I felt. She smiled, walking away as Sam came over, leading us to the back of the room where Becky was standing, a small crowd gathering around the stage.

"Welcome to the first annual Supernatural convention." A heavy-set man spoke into a microphone. The crowd cheered loudly in response. "At 3.45 in the Magnolia room we have the panel, _frightened little boy, the secret life of Dean._ "

"Wh-" Dean started, looking slightly insulted.

"And at 4.30 there's _siblings or lovers,_ discussing the relationship between Tori and Sam, and Sam and Dean and the homoerotic subtext of Supernatural _._ "

"Oh for the love of Christ." I mumbled, rolling my eyes. Becky crossed her arms, looking up at me with her lips pursed. I ignored her, glancing up to the boys next to me, who looked looked just as grossed out as I was – if not a million times more.

"Oh, and of course the big hunt starts at 7PM sharp. But right now, right now I'd like to introduce the man himself. The creator, the writer of the supernatural books. The one, the only, Carver Edlund!" The man finished, walking off the stage as the crowd clapped and cheered.

Chuck timidly walked out onto the stage, pulling in a deep breath, looking over at us. I gave my best bitch face, shaking my head. Chuck nervously grabbed the mic, causing a massive amount of feedback to flow through the room. He laughed a bit into the microphone, looking down at his feet.

"Okay. Okay good, this isn't nearly as awkward as I- dry mouth." He muttered, clearing his throat before taking big gulps out of the water bottle next to him. "Okay. Uh...ahem. So I guess...questions?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, every person threw a hand in the air.

"Hey, Mr Edlund. Uh...big fan. I was just wondering, where'd you come up with Sam, Dean and Tori in the first place?" A man asked after Chuck had picked him, sounding slightly nervous.

Chuck looked over at us again, looking for some sort of approval. Neither one of us gave him any kind of reassurance, just staring at him with stone cold expressions.

 _Crash and burn you little bitch._

"Oh, I...it just came to me." Chuck laughed, with a shrug. Dean rolled his eyes next to me, looking up at the ceiling as Chuck pointed to a guy in a hook man costume. "Yeah. The hook man."

"Ah yeah. Why in every fight scene, Sam and Dean are having their gun knocked away by the bad guy? Why don't they keep it on some kind of bungee?" The man asked in a very heavy German accent.

Sam raised, an eyebrow, a slightly approving look on his face. Dean tensed next to me and I could practically feel the anger start rolling off of him.

"I- yeah, I really don't know." Chuck answered.

" _Ja_ , follow up. Why can't Sam be telling that Ruby is evil? I mean she is clearly manipulating Sam into some kind of moral lapse. It's obvious, _nein_?" The man asked as a few people around him murmured in agreement.

I raised an eyebrow, glancing over at Sam, who seemed upset by the man's question. I could tell that Dean was just itching to say something, so I elbowed him lightly in the ribs. Becky glared at the man, her lips pursed.

"Hey! If you don't like the books don't read 'em Fritz." She took a step forward, yelling at the man. I gave her a nod of approval when she looked back at me. She smiled big at me, her eyes gleaming with pride.

"Okay, okay, just..okay, it's okay. so, next question." Chuck mumbled, trying to change the subject before Becky went crazy. "Yeah, you."

"At the end of the last book, Dean asked Tori to marry him. But wasn't it kind of shitty of him to do that knowing he was about to leave her?" A girl asked in the crowd. "I mean, talk about bad timing. He should've asked her way before that."

"Yeah, uh, well...Dean, he has some- some issues." Chuck mumbled. Dean threw his arms out to the side, letting them fall back with a huff.

Chuck pointing to anther girl, who gushed. "Hi."

"Hi."

"Okay, my question is a little embarrassing."

"No, I'm sure it's not." Chuck smiled, taking a sip of water.

"Okay. Well, Tori and Dean have like, the most amazing, kinky, realistic sex that I've ever read." She giggled. "Anyway, how do you come up with such great sex scenes? 'Cause I'll be honest, I can't read them without a cold glass of water."

Chuck choked on the water in his mouth, staring down at her with wide eyes. "I, uh- just, uh...it- they...I v- visualize."

"Oh...God." I folded my arms over my chest, shuttering as I shook my head.

"L- let's move on from that." Chuck muttered, picking someone else out of the crowd.

"Do you agree that there is obvious sexual tension between Tori and Sam?" Another girl dressed as me asked. Becky narrowed her eyes at the woman, letting her glare slip over to me. I just shook my head at her, looking away.

"Well, that- that's up to your own interpretation." Chuck replied, pointing to some one else.

"Okay, at the end of the last book, Dean goes to hell. So, what happens next?" The man asked.

"Oh. Well there lies an announcement, actually. You're all going to find out." Chuck said, looking back at us again. "Thanks to a wealthy Scandinavian investor, we're going to start publishing again."

The whole room exploded with clapping, yells and cheers of excitement. Becky was screaming her head off next to me, holding my arm as she bounced up and down.

After I preyed Becky off of my arm, Sam, Dean and I made our way out the packed room of excited crazies and into the foyer. I felt like I could finally breath in the empty room and leaned heavily against the wall. "What the hell is this insanity?"

"There's no explanation for what we've witnessed." Sam mumbled, leaning next to me.

Dean stood in front of us, his hands on his pockets. "I need a drink."

"God, yes." I nodded. "I want to get so drunk that I forget about Chuck _visualizing_."

"I want to get so drunk that I forget this day." Sam added s we walked into the dimly lit bar, I was still trying to process everything that was going on around us.

There were so many people dressed like us, trying to act like us...it was just weird. Especially the _Tori and Dean_ who were violently making out against the bar while, who I assumed to be their _Sam was_ standing about a foot away, looking at them in disgust.

"Take me, Dean!" The girl cried dramatically. "Right here. Right now."

"Oh, that's so freaking hot." _Dean_ replied in a forced gruff voice.

 _Sam_ rolled his eyes, letting out a huff. "Gross."

"Oh, come on. We are so not like that." I complained, shaking my head.

"Actually-" Sam began, stopping when Dean and I shot him a glare. After scanning the room a bit more, I spotted Chuck sitting at the bar with Becky.

Just the man I wanted to see.

I caught the tail end of their conversation as I walked up to them, with the boys trailing behind me. "So, Becky...I was wondering...are you doing any..."

"Oh, hi Sam!" She exclaimed excitedly, cutting Chuck off mid sentence. He sighed a bit, turning to face us on his stool. Sam nodded, but didn't actually say anything. Which seemed to be enough for her, as she smiled wildly at him.

"Excuse us." I mumbled to Becky, grabbing Chucks arm."In case you haven't noticed, our plates are kind of full, okay? Finding the Colt, hunting the devil. We don't have time for this shit, _Carver_."

"Hey, I didn't call you!" He said, holding his hands up.

"She means the books, Chuck. Why are you publishing more books?" Sam asked, trying to ignore the heated looks Becky was giving him.

"Um, for food and shelter?"

Dean walked around me, leaning in towards Chuck. "Who gave you the rights to our life story?"

"An archangel, and I didn't want it!"

"Well, deal's off, okay? No more books. Our lives are not for public consumption, or the joy of these weirdos." I said, glancing over at Becky. She slowly turned to Chuck, staring at him.

"Ah, Becky. Would you excuse us for just a second?" Chuck asked. She quickly nodded, watching Sam as he started walking towards the hallway. I gripped Chuck's arm tighter, pulling him off the stool, pushing him in front of me and out into the hallway with Dean by my side. "Do you guys know what I do for a living?"

"Yeah Chuck, we know." Sam nodded.

"Then could you tell me? 'Cause I don't, alright? I'm not a good writer. I've got no marketable skills. I'm not some hero who can just hit the road and fight monsters, okay? Until the world ends, I gotta live, alright? And the Supernatural books are all I've got. What else do you want me to do?"

Suddenly, a we heard a blood curtailing scream and ran in the direction it came from. Chuck called for us, but we ignored him and followed the scream, rushing up the long staircase to find a maid crouched down in the corner of the hallway.

Sam quickly ran over to her to help her up. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I think so." She nodded slowly, facing us.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I saw a ghost." She muttered, looking shaken up. Just then, a bunch of people started gathering behind us. The skinny guy from the audience, the heavy-set guy from the foyer and the girl who ran into me stood beside us.

"A ghost? Could you tell us what it looked like?" The tall thin man said in a very forced deep voice.

"Why don't you leave this to the grownups pal." Dean muttered, looking over at the guy.

"A woman. She was in an old fashioned dress. Really old. Like a school marm, or something?" The maid said.

"Did she say something to you?" A voice asked from the crowd behind us.

"Okay." The maid grinned. "Gather close everybody, for a terrifying tale of terror. I saw... a ghost!" She exclaimed. "None other than the ghost of Leticia gore herself! I was on the third floor getting ice for a guest..."

Sam shook his head, walking away from the group. Dean and I exchanged a look, following after him.

"Oooh, the LARPing's started." Becky said excitingly, running up to us.

"The...what is that again?" Dean asked.

" _Live Action Role Playing_?" She said rolling her eyes, with an obvious tone to her voice. "It's a game. The convention puts it on." She handed Sam a piece of paper with a smile on her face.

Sam glanced down at the piece of paper with a frown and started reading. "' _Dad's Journal. Dear kids, this hotel is haunted. You must hunt down the ghost. Interview witnesses, discover clues, and find the bones. First team to do so wins a $50 gift card to Sizzler. Love, Dad_.'"

"What…?" I asked, taking the paper from him to look it over.

It was all there in black and white. This people were literally insane.

* * *

"Well yes Agents Lennon and McCartney, as manager of this fine establishment I can assure you that it is indeed haunted. This building was once an orphanage, run by mean old Leticia Gore. 100 years ago this very night, Miss Gore went insane, and butchered four little boys before killing herself.  
Now folks say that the souls of those poor little boys are trapped here and the evil spirit of Miss Gore punishes them to this very day." The manger told the crowd of people, who were all dressed up in their suits. Sam, Dean and I stood in the back of the room again, watching the events take place.

"Well that's just about all the community theater I can take." Dean mumbled.

"Yeah, this cannot get any weirder." Sam said.

"Don't say that, Sam. Then it will." I muttered just as the same group from before walked past us. A tall thin guy, dressed as Sam. A shorter, heavyset man, dressed as Dean. And a thin girl, dressed as me, not far behind the two guys.

"Dad said...he said I may have to kill you." The stocky man muttered.

"Kill me? What the hell does that mean?" The tall guy said, turning to face him.

The girl walked behind the shorter guy, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We don't know, Sam."

"Oh..." He mumbled, as the three of them walked away. I rubbed my temples, feeling a headache coming on.

* * *

Back at the bar, I watched as Dean downed shot after shot, sipping my beer, glancing over at Sam, who was just staring down the table.

"Of all the things..." I muttered. "All the things I've been through in my life, all the shit I've seen...this- _this_ is what I'll need therapy for."

"I hear that." Dean mumbled beside me.

"Hey, you haven't tried to flirt with one girl in here tonight, Dean." Sam pointed out, trying to lighten the mood and take our minds off the crazy. "You should be proud of him." He said to me.

I nodded, taking a deep breath. Dean shook his head, taking a swig of my beer. "I am proud. I am. But really-" I paused, running my fingers through Dean's hair. "I think you're losing your touch, babe."

Dean glanced down at me, pursing his lips as a woman sat down next to him, typing away on her phone. He raised an eyebrow at me, a smirk on his face as he turned to face her. "How you doing?"

I raised an eyebrow, looking over at Sam, whose mouth was hanging open at his brothers actions. I don't think Sam will ever fully understand this part of our relationship.

"Busy." She muttered. Sam and I sucked in air through out teeth, shaking our heads.

"Rejected." I whispered, biting my lip.

Dean glared back at me, turning to face the woman again. "Well, you sure look lovely tonight. Especially for a dead chick."

"Buddy, I have heard that line seventeen times tonight, okay? And all from dudes wearing MacGyver jackets." She mumbled, still not looking up at him. Dean just stared, shooting one of his panty dropping smiles at her when she looked up. I literally saw the moment she melted as she smiled back at him. "But you seem different."

"How so?"

"Well, you don't seem scared of women." She smiled. Dean smirked and I grinned, deciding enough was enough.

"No, he's scared of one. Me." I said, punching his arm lightly. Dean chuckled as the woman raised an eyebrow at my behavior.

"For the last time I'm not making this up, okay?" A man yelled from across the room. I looked over Dean's shoulder at the guy. "She's upstairs, a real live dead ghost."

"Excuse me." Dean muttered to the woman as the three of us made our way over to the man.

"I'm sure it was just one of the ghost actors." The guy next to him said.

The man shook his head. "Who beat the hell out of me and then vanished?"

"You saw something?" Sam asked.

"This isn't part of the game, jerk." The guy snapped at Sam, turning back to his friend. "Look, I'm getting out of here and you should do the same." He walked away, causing his friend to chase after him.

Sam turned back to Dean and I. "What do you think?"

"I don't think that guy's a good enough an actor to be acting." Dean muttered.

* * *

We walked up to the front desk, where the manager stood, looking rather exhausted.

"Excuse us, mind if we ask you a few questions?" I asked.

"Look, I don't have time to play _Star Wars_ guys. Go ask the guy in the ascot." He mumbled.

"Actually we ah- really want to talk to you." Dean said, sliding cash across the desk.

"Okay. You guys are really into this." The manager muttered, grabbing the money.

"You have no idea." I mumbled.

"What do you want to know?"

"All this stuff they're saying. This place being haunted. Leticia Gore. Any truth to it?" Sam asked.

"We generally don't like to publicize this to... _normal people_...but yeah. 1909 this place was called Gore Orphanage. Miss Gore, killed four boys with a butchers knife, then offed herself."

"And is tonight really her anniversary?" Dean asked.

"Yup, guess your convention folks want authenticity."

"There been any sightings?" Sam asked, leaning on the desk.

"Yup, over the years. A few maids have quit saying they heard the boys or saw them. A janitor even saw Miss Gore once."

"Where did Miss Gore carve up the kids." Dean asked rather harshly. I elbowed him in the ribs, shaking my head when he looked down at me.

"Look, I don't want you stomping all over the joint. A lot of this place is off limits to nerds." The man mumbled. I rose an eyebrow at him, crossing my arms. Dean huffed, sliding more cash across the desk. "The attic."

* * *

Dean crawled through the small space of the attic, helping me through behind him. I turned on my flash light, as Sam held out the EMF meter, which almost immediately started buzzing. "The EMF's going nuts."

"Great. We got a real ghost and a bunch of dorks pretending to be us poking at it." I mumbled.

"No way this ends well."

Dean huffed. "Yeah, well serves them right."

"Dean..." I sighed.

"I'm just saying." He shrugged, continuing to look around. We split up a bit, looking around the dark attic.

"My mommy loves me." A voice came from behind me. I spun around to see a little boy crouched down, holding his head in his hands. "I said, my mommy loves me." He said through gritted teeth.

"I'm sure she does." I muttered as Dean walked up behind me, staring at the boy.

"My mommy loves me this much!" He shouted, moving his hands to reveal his partially scalped head, then disappeared.

* * *

We went back down to the bar, as I felt that needed another drink after what I'd just seen. Sam was on the other side of the room, talking on the phone. I threw back a shot, resting my head on Dean's shoulder. I was so ready for this day to be over. I just wanted to curl up next to him in bed and sleep.

I felt him press his lips to the top of my head, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.

"Look," Dean whispered into my ear, pointing at Becky – who was giving Sam some serious bedroom eyes.

I looked back over at Sam, who paused, glancing over at her with a nod. She licked the palm of her hand and blew it at him. I raised my eyebrows, watching as Sam grew more and more concerned for her sanity. Being the nice guy that he is, he waved at her slightly, turning to head back towards us as she winked at him.

"I see you have an admirer." I said as he sat back down at the table.

Sam just shot me a dirty look, not acknowledging what I'd said. "So, that was a guy with the County Historical Society."

"And?" Dean asked, putting an arm around my waist.

"Not only did Leticia Gore butcher four boys, but one of them was her own son."

"Her son?" I asked, feeling slightly sick.

"Yeah. According to the police at the time, she scalped the kid."

"Oh that's it." Dean shook his head. "I'm gonna deep fry this bitch extra crispy. Dude say where she was buried?"

Sam shrugged. "He doesn't know."

"Check it out. There's the orphanage, here's the carriage house, and right there... cemetery." Thin Sam said in an annoyingly deep voice a table across from us.

"You think that's where Leticia's planted?" Tiny me asked. Sharing a look, the boys and I got up and headed over to their table.

"It's worth a shot." He replied. Sam grabbed the map away from them as Thin Sam looked up at him. "Hey, hey!"

"Hey, do you mind?" Stocky Dean yelled, grabbing it back.

"It's real. A century old, at least, and he's right, there is a cemetery on the grounds." Sam said, turning to us.

"Where'd you get that?" Dean asked.

"It's called a game pal. It ain't called charity."

"Yeah right. Gimme the map, Chuckles."

"Yeah, well you're the Chuckles, _Chuckles_. Besides, Dean don't listen to nobody."

I rolled my eyes, leaning into Dean. "He's certainly got your comebacks down."

"Ha ha, very funny." Dean deadpanned. Stocky Dean pulled his jacket back to reveal a very fake looking plastic gun.

The girl quickly stood with him, shooting him a hard look. "Dean, don't."

"Dean! Cool it." Thin Sam said.

"Alright, you know what?" Dean huffed, pulling out his own gun.

"Dean, no." I scolded, pushing the gun down.

"Dean!" Sam called. "Relax."

"What?! They're fucking annoying." Dean exclaimed.

"You can't just kill someone 'cause they're annoying." I said.

"Why not?"

"Then more than half of the people in this world would be dead."

"Look, guys. We all wanna find the bones right? We just thought...it would go faster if we all worked together." Sam said, trying to reason.

"We..ah...we get the sizzler gift card." The skinny guy said.

"Fine." I mumbled, rolling my eyes.

"And we get to be Sam, Dean and Tori." The girl spoke up, raising an eyebrow at me.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Fine." I muttered.

* * *

We walked out of the hotel and down the small path that led towards the cemetery. The group walked a few feet in front of us.

The skinny dude turned back around. "Hey, Rufus, Bobby, Ellen, would you hurry it up?

"Are you alright?" I asked Dean, who was looking more and more frustrated as the seconds passed by.

"I'm trying to be." Dean mumbled, looking grumpy.

"So where were we?" Thin Sam asked, turning back to his group.

"Ah, Dr Ellicott and just zapped your brain." The shorter man told him.

"Right, got it." He cleared this throat. "Why are we even here Dean? You just following dad's footsteps like a good little soldier? You that desperate for approval?"

"This isn't you talking, Sam."

The tall guy turned to the girl, his voice harsh. "And you, just aimlessly following Dean like always. I mean, are you so scared you're gonna lose him that don't you have a mind of your own?"

Dean glanced between Sam and I, a desperate look on his face as he leaned down towards me. "How much do we have to put up with? I mean, really."

"I don't know." I frowned up at him, shrugging.

"You know, it's sickening how you obey him. Well, of course except for that one time, I mean. That one precious time that you didn't listen to him just so you could get what you wanted." Thin Sam continued, nodding down to me. "Of course you'd only _disobey_ him if it was beneficial for you. I mean, I'm sure it killed you to go against him like that, didn't it? But who cares? You got what you wanted. But what about what I want? Why am I wrong when I want to say _no_ to Dad? When I don't want to do what he wants me to? But see, I guess that's the difference between you and me. I'm not pathetic"

"So what are you gonna do, huh? Are you gonna kill me? Kill Tori?" Stocky Dean asked. as Tiny me stood next to him, clutching his arm tightly.

"You know what? I am sick of doing what you tell me to do"

"Alright, you know what? That's it. That is it." Dean said, stepping forward.

"What's wrong Bobby?" The shorter man asked innocently.

Dean rolled his eyes, looking like he was about to lose it. "I'm not Bobby, okay? You're not Sam. You're not Dean and you're not Tori! What is wrong with you? Why in the hell would you choose to be them?"

"Because we're fans. Like you."

"No. I am not a fan, okay. Not fans. In fact, I think that their story sucks. It is not fun. It is not entertaining. It is a river of shit that would send most people howling to the nut house." Dean paused, taking another step towards them. "So you listen to me. Their pain is not for your amusement. I mean do you think they enjoy being treated like... like circus freaks?

"Uh...I don't think they care, because they're _fictional characters_!" The girl said with a laugh.

"Oh, they care. Believe me. They care a lot." Dean snapped, walking off.

We watched as he stomped away down the path. The three of them looked back at Sam and I, questions clear in their eyes.

"He, uh- he takes the story really seriously." I said, trying to cover for his outburst as I moved to follow him. "Dean! I mean, Bobby- I mean- oh, whatever." Eventually, I caught up to Dean, keeping up with pace. "What was that back there exactly?"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You know what I'm talking about, Dean. That whole _they don't want to be treated like circus animals_ thing."

"I lost it for a second, okay? Can you really blame me?" Dean asked, turning to face me. I shook my head, looking up into his clear, green eyes.

"No. I can't. I guess I should be glad you didn't just shoot them instead."

Dean chucked, pushing my long bangs out of my face. "You should be...'cause I was two seconds away from just ending them."

"Hey! Focus on the job!" Stocky Dean yelled, walking over to us. "Bobby and Ellen aren't together!"

I rolled my eyes, breaking away from Dean to continue walking down the path, but Dean didn't allow that, however, quickly pulling me back to him to place a heavy kiss on my lips. I was a bit lightheaded when he pulled back, smirking down at me.

Trying to catch my breath, I glanced over my shoulder to see the small group staring at us with wide eyes while Sam just shook his head.

* * *

Once we made it to the cemetery, all of us turned our flashlights on and we began looking around the gravestones. Dean and I walked together while Sam went his own way. It wasn't long before we met up again in the middle, like we were supposed to.

"Alright, we found the four boys." Dean told Sam.

"And here's Leticia Gore." Sam nodded to the gravestone in front of us. I heard some leaves crunch behind us and looked over to see the trio tip toeing around the edge of the cemetery, shining their lights into the bushes.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We're looking for bones, genius. They gotta be around here somewhere." Stocky Dean replied in his _Dean voice_.

"Generally, bones are in the ground... _genius_."

"Yeah, I know that. I just..." He watched as Sam placed his bag on the ground, bending down next to it, pulling out a shovel. "Wait, hold on. Are you guys serious?"

Dean glanced over at him, his eyes narrowed. "Deadly."

"Why did you think we came out here, to frolic?" I asked, taking the shovel from Sam.

"We're not really digging up graves you guys, we're just playing a game." Thin Sam murmured.

"Trust us. You wanna win the game, right?" Dean asked.

The group gathered around the grave watching in slight shock as Dean started digging it up. Dean looked over at me, his eyes telling me what I already knew. He hated this part. He jumped into the shallow grave, to dig some more as the rest of us later, the shovel into the dirt one more time before hitting the coffin. Dean stood up straight, wiping the sweat of his forehead with the back of his arm, before pulling the coffin lid open.

Stocky Dean started coughing as soon as he saw the skeleton. "That's not a plastic skeleton. That's a- that's a _skeleton,_ skeleton."

"You just dug up a real grave." Thin Sam muttered.

"Oh my god." Tiny me whispered, her eyes wide with shock.

"Yeah." Dean nodded.

"I thought you guys wanted to be hunters?" I asked, crossing my arms. The shorter man starting hyperventilating a bit, looking at me like I was insane.

"Hunters aren't real, man. This isn't real!" He started to walk away, with his two friends following along.

"My God. You guys have seriously lost your grip on this..." The girl said, turning to face us again. She suddenly froze, her mouth popping open.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Naughty, naughty, naughty!" A voice shrieked. I looked over to see the spirit of Leticia Gore standing next to Sam, suddenly backhanding him across the face, causing him to go flying across the cemetery.

The trio started screaming and running as I turned to head in the direction Sam went, looking back to see Dean climbing out of the grave, rummaging through the bag to find the salt and lighter.

"Barnes!" The stocky man yelled as he and the girl pulled the their friend to his feel. I finally found Sam and helped him up, the two of us were rushing back towards everyone when Gore appeared in front of the three.

"Naughty, naughty, naughty!" Gore yelled, pushing her hands into each man's chests, leaving the girl standing in between them, screaming her head off.

I poured the kerosene in the grave as Dean grabbed his lighter, dropping it in. I watched as Gore shrieked, burning to ashes, disappearing. The group immediately fell to the ground, holding onto each other tightly.

"Real enough for you?" Dean asked, looking at their horrified faces.

* * *

 **BAR – NIGHT**

We were back in the bar, which seemed to be our staging area for the night. Sam, Dean and I walked up behind our impersonators, catching their attention.

The thin man sighed. "That was...really..."

"Awful. Right? Exactly. Round's on us guys." Dean said, slapping him on the shoulder. I placed a note on the bar, standing next to Dean, who wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me to his side.

"See you around." Sam muttered, as we headed for the door.

"Hey. How'd you know how to do all that." The shorter man asked.

"We, uh- we read the books." I said simply, shrugging my shoulders. The boys nodded in agreement and we headed towards the hallway, where Chuck was standing with one of the managers.

"Hey Chuck." Dean called out, causing him to look up at us. "Good luck with the Supernatural books, and fuck you very much." Chuck just stared as we kept walking towards the doors.

"I really just want to curl up in bed with you right now." I whispered into Dean's ear, kissing his neck.

"Don't tease me like that, I still gotta drive."

"Spare me the details, please." Sam mumbled, looking back at us with disgust on his face. He pushed on the doors, but they didn't open.

"Wow, Sam. Forget to eat your Wheaties this morning?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow at his brother.

Sam shot him a dirty look, trying again. "They won't budge."

"Let a real man do it." Dean huffed, pushing on the doors. They still didn't open.

"What was that, Jackass?" Sam asked, looking over at Dean, who stared at the doors, confused. The three of us all tried to open the doors at once, but they we completely locked and there was no way we could open them.

* * *

A little bit later, Dean and I were in one of the other rooms and I watched as he struggled, trying his hardest to open one of the windows. But no dice, they wouldn't budge either.

"Stop trying, babe. You're gonna hurt yourself." I muttered, leaning on the windowsill.

"What's going on?" Dean looked up at me, shaking his head. I shrugged, not having a clue.

Sam walked back over to us then, shaking his head. "Every exit's locked. Almost like-"

"Something's keeping us in?"

"Seems like it." I mumbled. Dean banged his fist against the window, getting frustrated.

"Yeah. This is bad." Sam nodded, looking around the room.

"Gee, ya think Sammy?" Dean asked, looking up at him.

Suddenly, a woman started screaming in the other room and the three of us ran towards the sounds. The woman Dean hit on before ran into his arms, looking up at him with wide eyes. "Don't go in there!"

"Get downstairs, okay? Go go!" Dean told her. She nodded, running down the steps.

The three of us entered the library, finding a little boy crouched in the corner again. He was holding his head, so I assumed he was the same one from the attic...Gore's son.

"Why'd you do that?" He asked. "Why did you send my mommy away?"

"Ah, maybe because of the high and tight she gave you, huh? How about some thanks." Dean blurted out. Sam looked at him, shaking his head.

I smacked his stomach with the back of my hand. "Really?"

"Well, I'm just saying a little gratitude might be nice once in a while."

"My mommy didn't do this to me." The little boy whined.

"What? Then who did?" I asked, confused. Suddenly the little boy disappeared, leaving us with a very big unanswered question.

* * *

"I just don't get it." I said as we walked through one of the hallways of the hotel, making our way to the stairs.

"Me either." Sam shrugged.

"Why say something like that then just disappear? I'll never understand why they do that." I complained. Suddenly we heard more screaming coming from upstairs and bolted up the staircase, finding the _hook man_ lying dead on the floor...scalped.

This wasn't a joke anymore. Something serious was happening, and we needed to figure out how to stop it, fast. Rushing back to the conference room where Chuck was on the stage again, I left Dean and Sam in back of the crowd as I made my way around to get backstage.

"Well guys I guess we're out of time." Chuck spoke into the mic. I walked out on the stage, hearing a couple gasps and murmurs from the crowd. "So thank you for your incredibly probing and rigorous questions, and have a good-" Chuck paused, looking over at me with a slight smile as he backed away from the mic while I leaned in to whisper to him.

"Uh, I don't really know how to put this lightly...so I'm just gonna say it. German Hook Man is dead and there are a few homicidal ghosts floating around this hotel as we speak." I pulled back, seeing that he thought I was joking for a second. I raised an eyebrow, a serious look on my face.

"Holy crap." Chuck muttered, looking horrified as he stared up at me with wide eyes.

"You gotta keep everyone safe in here Chuck. This _is_ life or death."

"For how long?"

"As long as it takes."

"Well...how the hell am I supposed to do that?"

"I have no idea. Just do it." I said, turning and walking off the stage, leaving him to his own devises. These people practically worshiped him, I'm sure he could keep their attention until we get this figured out.

"Okay. So ah, good news. I got much more to tell you... I guess." Chuck said with an uncertain shrug. I jumped off the stage, finding Dean and Sam trying to lure the staff into the auditorium.

"Buddy, I got work to do." The manager said, glancing over at Dean.

"You're gonna want to see this, trust me. It's gonna be a hell of a show." Dean told him, shoving him back in the room slightly. I squeezed out just before Dean closed the door behind me and he and Sam stared laying down a thick line of salt. "Okay. New theory. The legends about Leticia are ass-backwards obviously."

"Yeah. So let's say those three orphans were playing cowboys and Indians." I started.

" _LARPing_ as cowboys and Indians." Dean corrected with a grin.

"Whatever. And let's say they scalped Leticia's son and killed him."

"Mom catches them in the act, flips out, slices them and dices herself." Dean finished.

"If that's true it means we've got three bloodthirsty brats in the building." Sam said.

"Yeah, and Leticia was the only one keeping them under control."

"Smooth move on our part." I commented.

"Yeah, well we gotta get back to the cemetery, torch the kids' bones." Dean said, looking down at me.

"How? We're trapped, we don't even have our guns. The ghosts are running this joint and they're only scared of one thing."

Dean's eyes lit up. "Exactly."

I furrowed my brow, shaking my head. "I've never liked that look."

* * *

The woman Dean had been flirting with earlier in the day stood in front of us, arms crossed, an incredulous look on her face.. "You want me to do what?"

"You're an actress. We just want you to act." Dean said, trying to make sound simple.

"I work at Hooters, in Toledo." She said. Dean perked up at the mention of Hooters and I quickly smacked his arm, trying to get him to focus. "No, you can forget it."

"You'll be safe, we promise. This is really important." Sam told her.

Dean jumped slightly as someone slapped their hand on his shoulder. I turned to see the group of our imposters standing there.

"We wanna help." Stocky Dean announced.

"Just give her the puppy dog thing okay?" Dean told Sam, who nodded, turning back to the girl as he and I went over to the group. "Guys, no."

"Why not?" Tiny me asked, her eyebrows raised.

"'Cause this isn't make-believe." I said.

"Look, we know. We're not nuts. We're freakin' terrified." The shorter man said.

"Yeah," The taller one agreed, his voice trembling slightly. "But if all these people are seriously in trouble, we gotta do something."

"Why?" Dean asked.

"Because." The stocky man shrugged. "That's what the Winchesters would do."

* * *

After spliting up into groups, Sam took the pretend version of himself Dean while Dean and I took the fake me and the hooters girl. Peering around the corner, I watched as the woman walked nervously into the library, glancing back at us. "I don't wanna do this."

"We're right here, okay?" Dean said, looking around the corner at her. "We've got your back. Trust me, this is going to work."

Dean moved back down next to me with a grimace on his face. He wasn't completely sure this was going to work, I could tell. Tiny me grabbed my hand tightly, looking up at me with an apologetic look on her face. I shook my head, letting her know it was fine.

"Boys? Boys? Come here this instant. You come when I call you. You understand me?" The girl called out into the empty room.

For a while there was no reply, when suddenly a few small voices sounded out. "Miss Gore?"

* * *

 **LOBBY – NIGHT  
** SPOV

Standing in between the two men, we all threw our wight against the door, trying to force it open. It took a few tries, but eventually, it gave a little and the thinner guy squeezed out, followed by his friend, the both of them holding the door open from the outside so I could slip out as well.

"Come on, we gotta hurry." I said, rushing down the path with the two behind me.

* * *

 **LIBRARY – NIGHT  
** TPOV

"You boys have been very naughty. Now you open the doors. Open the doors right now." She ordered, her voice shaking a bit. "Very naughty, you hear me?"

Out of no where, music started playing from inside the room. I sighed as Dean leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes.

"You stay over here." Dean told me, grabbing the crowbar. I watched as, before he even took another step into the room, he was thrown against the wall. The woman ran over to me, out of the way.

"Dean!" I shouted out as the crowbar slid towards me. I quickly turned to Tiny me, who had a weird expression on her face. "Listen to me, you take that girl and go downstairs...make sure everyone else is okay. Alright? Can you do that?"

She quickly nodded, dragging the girl downstairs as I turned and grabbed the crowbar, running into the room, cutting it into the mist of boys. They disappeared and Dean fell to the floor, so I quickly bent down to help him up.

"Thanks, babe. Don't know what I'd do without you." Dean muttered, catching his breath. Suddenly, I was the one pinned against the wall.

"Tori!" Dean yelled, but before he could do anything, he was pinned to the floor by a little boy, who sat on top of him.

Another boy stood in front of me and I dropped to the ground, on my knees. I struggled with the boy, trying to push him back as he reached around, pulling my hair back. My head snapped backwards as he held the knife to my hairline, I quickly held onto the arm that was welding the knife, trying to push him away. I glanced over to see Dean holding both of the boys hands, one away from his throat and the other holding the knife away.

* * *

 **CEMETERY – NIGHT  
** SPOV

At the cemetery, we found the boys graves, the three of us each taking one, beginning to dig the dirt out.

"Oh my God. Supernatural makes digging graves seem so easy. It's not though. I'm gonna throw up." The taller man muttered.

"No, you're not." The shorter one said.

"Keep going!" I told them.

After what felt like forever, we all got down to the coffins, ripping them open, pouring kerosene on top of the bones. I lit a match, throwing it into the grave, watching it burn. The taller man did the same, the both of us glancing over at the shorter man, who was repeatedly flicking his lighter.

"How come Dean can always light the stupid thing on the first freaking try? Come on!" He exclaimed, his eyes lighting as the flame appeared, quickly throwing it in the grave.

* * *

 **LIBRARY – NIGHT  
** TPOV

Suddenly, the boys burnt in front of us, vanishing and I fell to the ground, finally taking a deep breath. I went over to Dean, who was just laying there, staring up at the ceiling.

"You know maybe that guy was right." Dean said, leaning up on his elbows, nodding to the crowbar "Maybe we should put these things on a bungee." I let out a shaky chuckle resting my forehead on his chest.

* * *

The sun shined down on us as we headed outside, freely able to open the doors now, walking down the front steps with the trio I'd actually become very fond of over the past few hours. They did save our lives after all.

"You know I gotta hand it to you guys. You really saved our asses back there. So ah, you know, thanks." Dean said, turning to face the three of them. "I don't even know your names."

"Oh. Well, I'm Barnes." The tall guy muttered, pointing to the man to his left, then the girl. "This is Demian and that's Chelsea. What's yours?"

Dean looked over at me, a silent question in his eyes. _Should I?_ I shrugged. Figuring that it couldn't hurt.

"Dean. The real Dean." He replied, nodding to me. "And the real Tori."

A moment of silence passed before the three of them burst out laughing, holding onto each other as they lost it.

"Ah, yeah right. Me too!" Demian laughed.

"Get the hell out of here, _Dean_!" Barnes exclaimed, nudging Dean's shoulder. Chelsea, stopped laughing way before the two guys, looking up at me with a strange expression as she watched me smile up at Dean.

Dean glanced down at me with a grin, looking back up at them. "Well, anyway. Thanks. Really."

"Yeah, thank you." I nodded. Dean put an arm around my waist and the two of us turned to walk away.

"You're wrong you know." Chelsea said, causing us to turn around.

"Sorry?" Dean asked.

"About Supernatural. No offense but I'm not sure you get what the stories about."

"Really?" I asked as Dean and I exchanged a look, smirking at each other.

"Alright. In real life, he sells stereo equipment." Chelsea said, pointing to Damian. "I work in a shitty retail store, and Barnes fixes copiers. Our lives suck. But to be Sam, Dean and Tori, to wake up every morning and save the world. To have a brother who would die for you and a person who loves you so much that they accept all your flaws and faults. That they'd risk everything...and do anything, just for you." She nodded towards me, looking at Dean's arm around my waist. "Well who wouldn't want that?"

"Maybe you got a point." Dean nodded. "You know, you three don't make a bad team yourselves."

"How do you know each other anyway?" I asked.

"Oh. Well, we met online. Supernatural chat room." Barnes said.

"Well it must be nice to get out of your parent's basement. Make some friends." Dean chuckled. I smacked his stomach lightly, shaking my head.

"We're more than friends." Demian muttered. Part of me actually thought he and Chelsea were together, but that thought immediately washed away when he grabbed Barnes' hand, intertwining their fingers together. "We're partners."

"I'm just the hag." Chelsea laughed, standing next to Barnes, who rested his head on Demian's shoulder.

"Oh, wow. Howdy partners." Dean sputtered out, glancing down at me. I was quite speechless at the moment.

"Howdy." Barnes grinned at us. A few slightly weird moments of silence passed before we said our goodbye's and turned to head back to the Impala.

"Hey!" Chelsea called out again, running over to us as Barnes and Demian went back to their car, waiting for her there.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"It's completely impossible, right?"

"What is?"

"You're not really...Tori and Dean, are you?" Chelsea asked, looking up at the two of us. I glanced up at Dean, sharing a small look with him. "Oh. My God...you are?"

"Listen, you can't tell anybody, okay?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I'm not gonna say anything, they'd lock me up!" She exclaimed. Dean and I chuckled, smiling at her. "Holy crap. So all- all that stuff actually happened?"

"Yeah."

"You really went to hell?" Chelsea asked, looking up at Dean.

Dean looked slightly uncomfortable for a moment at the mention of hell before nodding. "Yeah, I did."

"I am so sorry."

"It uh- it's okay."

"Well, I guess- I guess I'll let you guys go...you know... _save the world_."

"Alright." I nodded, smiling at her as Dean and I turned, going over to the Impala, leaning into Dean's side, warpping arms around his middle as he tucked my head under his chin. "Are we finally getting out of the nightmare?"

"I hope. I know I could use a few hours alone with you after this, that's for sure." Dean muttered into my hair.

"I second that."

"This was the weirdest experience of my life."

I chuckled. "Definitely.

Sam walked back over to us, noticing the slight smiles on our faces. "You okay?"

"Yeah, you know? I think I'm good." Dean said. I nodded, agreeing.

"Well, you're not going to believe it, but I got a lead on the Colt."

"What?" I asked, surprised.

"Long story, I'll tell you on the way?" Sam asked.

"What are we waiting for?" Dean asked, shooting me a small smile before the three of us jumped into the car, getting the hell away from this place as fast as we could.

* * *

 **I really love this episode, so I hope I did it justice!**

 **As always, thanks for reading and I hope you guys liked it! Drop a review and lemme kno ;)**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction**


	11. Abandon All Hope

_It's over I didn't want to see it come to this  
I wonder if I will ever see your face again  
And I know that I will find a way to shed my skin  
It's simple I know that I will suffer in the end_

 _It's hopeless, the end will come and wash it all away_  
 _Forsaken, I live for those I lost along the way_  
 _And I can't remember how it all began to break_  
 _You suffer, I live to fight and die another day_

 _Fast I fade away_  
 _It's almost over_  
 _Hold on_  
 _Slow I suffocate_  
 _I'm cold and broken_  
 _Alone  
 **Breaking Benjamin – Fade Away**_

* * *

This was it. Surprisingly enough, thanks to Becky, we got a lead on the Colt. Cas had spent some time tracking it down, but eventually he found the Cold and the demon that had it. Because of the warding covering the mansion, Cas couldn't get in. So it was up to us. Now we had the chance to get it. The chance to...kill the devil.

It's crazy, but it's the only plan we have left.

As much as I wanted to be the one to do this, to not put her in this position, the demons we assumed would be standing guard would've noticed me in a second. So I watched from beside a few bushes near the gate as Jo walked up to it, her gown swaying in the breeze by her feet.

She pressed the intercom, leaning in. "Hello? My car broke down. I- I need some help."

" _I'll be down in a minute._ " A static voice replied just before the gate swung open and two men approached her. "Evening, pretty lady. Get yourself on in here."

"I just need to make a call."

"You don't need to call anyone, baby. We're the only help you're ever gonna need."

"You know what? I think I should wait by my car." Jo turned to go, but the demon grabbed her, pulling her back harshly.

"We said, get your ass in here."

Just as fast as Jo shook his hand off and punched him, I ran out, stabbing the second demon through the back of the neck with Ruby's knife before plunging it into the first demon's stomach, looking up at Jo with a smile. "Nice work."

"Uh-huh. And you didn't want me to do it."

"I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Sure."

"Here." Dean called, walking up to hand Jo a bag.

"Shall we?" She asked, pulling out a pair of wire cutters before stepping past the gate. Jo made her way around the back of the house while Dean, Sam and I headed inside as quietly as possible.

We followed the sound of a loud TV, stopping a room before the noise. I peered in, seeing a man sitting on the far end with a glass of whiskey in his hand, watching a black and white movie. We readied ourselves, both boys holding shotguns, hearing the demon get up, walking out towards us.

"It's Crowley, right?" I asked, keeping a hand on the knife that I'd tucked into my belt buckle.

"So, the Justice League finally found me." Crowley muttered in a light British accent. "Took you long enough." He was about to take a step forward into the devil's trap we'd drawn on the rug when he saw the side of it lifted up. He peaked underneath letting out a huff as he straightened up. "Do you have any idea how much this rug cost?"

Suddenly, I felt someone come up behind, grabbing me. To both of my sides, the boys were in the same predicament, being held back by two more demons, their guns on the floor. I threw my head back, hitting the demon's nose, catching him off guard, making him loosen his grip. In one motion, I grabbed Ruby's knife from my belt, twisting around, slitting his throat.

Just as I turned back around, Crowley had the Colt out, a grin on his face as he watched me, aiming the gun at my chest. "Look at you. Both beauty and beast."

"So, what you shoot us now?" I asked, glancing over at Sam and Dean, who were about to fight the demons holding them, but froze when Crowley drew the Colt.

"This is it, right? This is what it's all about." Crowley asked, waving the gun around before shooting the two demons, giving us pointed looks. "We need to talk. Privately."

The boys and I exchanged a look, following Crowley into a lavish room where a glass of whiskey sat on the desk. Dean looked around, his brow furrowed. "What the hell is this?"

"Do you know how deep I could have buried this thing? There's no reason you or anyone should know this even exists, except that I told you."

"You told us?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Rumors, innuendo, sent out on the grapevine."

"Why? Why tell us anything?"

"I want you to take this thing to Lucifer and empty it into his face."

"Uh-huh, okay." Dean nodded. "And why exactly would you want the devil dead?"

"It's called survival. Well, I forgot you three, at best, are functioning morons-"

"You're functioning...morons..."

I smacked Dean's stomach with the back of my hand, fighting off the urge to roll my eyes as Crowley continued. "Lucifer isn't a demon, remember? He's an angel. An angel famous for his hatred of humankind. To him, you're just filthy bags of puss. If that's the way he feels about you, what can he think about us?"

"But he created you." Sam said.

"To him, we're just servants. Cannon fodder. If Lucifer manages to exterminate humankind, we're next. So, help me, huh? Let's all go back to simpler, better times, back to when we could all follow our natures. I'm in sales, dammit! So what do you say if I give you this thing, and you go kill the devil?" Crowley asked, holding the gun out, handle first, wiggling it.

Sam reached out hesitantly, taking the gun. "Great."

"Great."

"You wouldn't happen to know where the devil is, by chance, would you?"

"Thursday, birdies tell me, there's an appointment in Carthage, Missouri."

"Okay." Sam nodded, placing the barrel between Crowley's eyes, pulling the trigger. It clicked, empty.

"Oh, yeah, right, you'll probably need some more ammunition."

"Aren't you kind of signing your own death warrant, here?" I asked. "What happens to you if we go up against the devil and lose?"

"Number one, he's going to wipe us all out anyway. Two, after you leave here, I go on an extended vacation to all points nowhere. And three, how about you don't miss, okay! Morons!"

Crowley rolled his eyes, tossing a pack of bullets to me. I glared back at him, watching as he disappeared from view.

* * *

 **SOUIX FALLS, SD – NIGHT**

 **Singer House**

Across the room, Ellen and Jo sat at the kitchen table with Cas in between the both of them, ten shot glasses, some full and some not, sitting in front of them. Jo sipped on her beer, watching her mother tip back a shot glass, placing it back on the table.

"Alright, big boy." She nodded to Cas.

The angel let out a small breath, draining all five glasses in a row with ease. "I think I'm starting to feel something."

Jo gawked, glancing back at me with an open mouth. I just shrugged, smiling at Cas. Sam and Dean sat to either of my sides, each of us holding a beer.

"It's gotta be a trap, right?" Sam asked suddenly.

"Sam Winchester, having trust issues with a demon. Well, better late than never." Dean commented. I shot him a look, rolling my eyes.

"Thank you again for your continued support."

"You're welcome." Dean grinned. "You know, trap or no trap, we got a snowball's chance, we gotta take it, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose."

"Besides, I'm not sure it is a trap. Check it out." Dean said, handing me some papers so that Sam and I could both look. "I mean, Carthage is lit up like a Christmas tree with Revelation omens. There's been six missing persons reported, in town, since Sunday. I think the devil's there."

"Okay."

"Look, when you think about it...you two can't come."

"What?" I asked, glancing over at Dean with surprised eyes.

"Look, I go against Satan and screw the pooch. We've lost a game piece. That we can take. But if you're there, then we are handing the devil's vessel right over to him. And if you're there, I- we don't know what will happen. And that's not smart."

"When have we ever done anything smart?"

"I'm serious, Tor."

"Me too. Haven't we learned a thing? If we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it together."  
Dean watched me for a moment, seeing that I wasn't about to back down. And I certainly wasn't going to let him do this alone. "Okay. But it's a stupid fucking idea."

Sam let out a sigh, looking over into the kitchen where Ellen, Jo and Cas sat. "Talk about stupid ideas."

As I watched them, I felt more and more horrible for dragging them into this mess. With a heavy breath, I got up and headed up the steps into the bedroom, sitting at the foot of one of the beds, pulling in deep breaths, trying to clear my head.

"Hey." Dean called, leaning in the doorway.

"Hey."

"You okay?"

"Yeah." I nodded, watching as he entered the room, shutting the door behind him before making his way over, sitting next to me.

"So, dangerous mission tomorrow."

"Yeah."

"Guess it's time to eat, drink, and, you know, make merry."

"Are you giving me the _last night on earth_ speech?" I asked with a laugh, raising an eyebrow.

"What? No." Dean mumbled, glancing around the room before letting his eyes fall on me again. "If I was, would that work?"

I smiled, leaning in towards him, just about to press my lips against his when I stopped. "No."

Dean chuckled. "Well, then what _would_ I have to do?"

Another joke nearly came out of my mouth before the realization of tomorrow hit me, along with the fear of what might happen. We might die, and this time I don't think we'd come back. I looked up at Dean, nothing but love in my gaze. "Nothing. You just have to be you."

"Tor, are you okay?" Dean asked, noting my sudden seriousness. I shook my head, looking to the ground. Dean wrapped his arms around me, pulling me against him, holding me tightly.

After a few moments, I looked up to Dean, pulling him down so his lips would meet mine. My lungs burned for air, but I didn't want to stop. I moved onto my back, my hands in Dean's hair, guiding him to follow me. He rested in between my legs as we kissed each other hungrily.

We slowly pealed each others clothes off until we were both bare, our chests flush. I was more than ready, loving the feeling of his chest rising and falling as he pushed inside, filling me. Before I knew it, pleasure filled my body, Dean and I moaning into each others mouths as we came.

"I love you." I murmured, my hands on his cheeks as he rested his forehead against mine, kissing me.

"I know."

The emotions started getting to me, tears springing to my eyes. Dean didn't say a word, wiping away the tear that streamed down my cheek. I tried desperately not to think about tomorrow, to just concentrate on the feel of him, but it was almost impossible. Because no matter how much we could try to act brave, to pretend that we thought everything was going to be fine...we knew it might not be.

There's that possibility of one, or all of us, getting hurt.

A possibility that was all too real.

Suddenly, a loud knock sounded on the door, seconds before it was opened, leaving Dean and I barely enough time to cover ourselves up.

"Jo!" I scolded, glaring at her as she grinned, her arms folded.

"Bobby asked me to come get you." She muttered innocently.

"Well, we're a little busy."

"I can see that."

"You saw nothing."

"I saw a little _something_." Jo muttered suggestively, allowing her eyes to trail down Dean's body, landing on his crotch, that was now covered by a thin sheet. "And by _little_ I mean, _not so little_."

"I will gouge your eyes out with my nails." I hissed.

"You can, but guess what? I'll still have that sweet, sweet memory."

"Beat it, Jo."

"Really? Okay." She shrugged, shooting a smile at Dean, looking back to me. "I didn't think you'd be down with that."

"That's not the kind of _beat it_ I was talking about."

"Oh, you want me to leave?"

"Yeah."

"Not beat him o-"

"Finish that sentence, you won't have a tongue."

"Okay, okay." She laughed, holding her hands up. "Bobby really does want us all downstairs though. So before you start boning again-"

"We'll be right down."

* * *

After throwing our clothes back on, Dean and I headed downstairs, seeing everyone gathering in the living room, Bobby setting up a tripod in the middle of the room. He glanced up at us, rolling his eyes. "There you two are. It's time for the lineup. Usual suspects in the corner."

"Oh come on, Bobby. Nobody wants their picture taken." Ellen complained.

"Hear, hear." Sam chimed in.

"Shut up. You're drinking my beer." Bobby said as Dean and I made our way over.

"It's only fair." I shrugged.

As I stood in front of him, I felt Dean wrap an arm around my waist, draping the other over Jo's shoulder when she moved to his left. To my right, Sam stood behind Cas, an arm around his shoulder, with Ellen in front of him. After pressing a few more buttons on the camera, Bobby wheeled over, stopping right in front of Dean and I, all of us smiling.

"Anyway, I'm gonna need something to remember your sorry asses by."

"Always good to have an optimist around." Ellen smiled.

"Bobby's right. Tomorrow we hunt the devil. This is our last night on earth."

And with that, our smiles fell and the camera flashed.

* * *

 **CARTHAGE, MISSOURI – DAY**

The sky was overcast and almost gray looking, the sun covered up by thick, heavy clouds that looked like they were about to pour down rain any second. After checking the police station and finding it empty, we drove down another seemingly abandoned street in the Impala, Ellen, Jo and Cas following close behind in their own car.

"You getting a signal?" Sam asked.

"No. Still nothing." I replied, looking at my phone to see that there were no bars.

"Nice and spooky." Dean commented, slowing to a stop as he waved Ellen over.

She pulled up along side, rolling the windows down. "Place seem a little empty to you?"

"Just a little."

With that, Dean pulled the Impala up to the curb, parking it. Ellen did the same, the six of us getting out, Cas not using the door, just appearing next to Jo, who looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Ever heard of a door handle?"

"Of course I have." Cas replied, looking around.

"What is it?" I asked, noticing that something was off about him.

"The town's not empty."

"It's not?" Dean asked.

"Reapers."

"As in more than one?"

"Yes." Cas muttered, staring up at one of the windows for a moment before disappearing from view before any of us could stop him. The five of us began moving down the street, the boys and I taking the front while Jo and Ellen hung back a few steps.

"Great, been in town twenty minutes and already lost the angel up our sleeve." Dean mumbled.

"You think Lucifer got him?" Sam asked.

"I don't know what else to think."

"There you are." A female voice called from behind, smiling at me as we turned to face her. "Long time no see, honey bunch."

"I'm sorry, am I supposed to remember you?" I asked.

"Always with the comebacks. I admire that. Why don't you ask Ren and Stimpy over there, they know." She said, nodding to Sam and Dean.

"Meg." Sam spat.

"What? Meg? You knew she was back?" I asked, glancing back at the boys, who looked away with guilty eyes. "Thanks for telling me!"

Meg grinned. "Shouldn't have come here."

"Hell, I could say the same thing for you." Dean said, aiming the Colt at her.

"Didn't come here alone, Dean-o." Meg smiled as growling began. My eyes widened as I saw the faint outline of several hellhounds emerging from behind parked cars, their nails digging into the asphalt.

"Hellhounds."

"Yeah, Dean. Your favorite. The things that left that pretty little scar on your angel's tummy and took you to hell." Meg smirked at me. "Come on, my father wants to see you."

"I think we'll pass, thanks." Sam said.

"Your call. You can make this easy or you can make it really, really hard."

Dean glanced over at me, I nodded, keeping an eye on the hellhounds as he turned back to Meg. "When have you known us to ever make anything easy?"

I pulled up my gun, firing it at the hellhound closest to Meg, seeing blood spurt from it's wound. We all took off, running away from the hellhounds as they began to charge at us. Sam and Ellen were out in front with Dean and I following behind. From behind, I heard the sound of one of the hellhounds getting closer and just as I turned it gained speed, grabbing Jo before I could reach her, shredding her side.

"Jo!" I screamed, stopping dead in my tracks, beginning to shoot at the hellhound along with Sam and Ellen until it fell back.

Dean ran over, scoping Jo up into his arms, rushing for one of the nearest stores. Ellen and I followed, holding the door open. Dean brought Jo to the back of the store, setting her down in front of the counter so she could lean against it. I tried to keep my eyes off of her side, which was soaked in blood.

"Dean, I need your help!" Sam called from the front of the store. On his way, Dean grabbed a couple bags of rock salt, and the both of them got to work chaining the door shut before lining it and the windows with salt.

"It's gonna be okay." I told Jo while her mother whispered for her to just keep breathing. As gently as possible, I pealed her hand away from her wound, watching blood flow out freely. My heart sank, but now was not the time to cry. Now was the time to be strong. We had to get her fixed up. "Jo, can you hear me?"

"Yeah." She breathed.

"Okay. Stay with us, okay?"

"Okay." I nodded, glancing over to Ellen, who put her hand over Jo's wound, holding pressure to it. I got up, going into the back room, thankfully finding a first aid kit. I rushed back out, bandaging Jo's injury as quickly and tightly as I possible could.

* * *

Once I got Jo bandaged up, her wound had stopped gushing blood, there was still some trickling out, and she was growing more pale by the second. I made my way over to the boys, my hands still covered in blood.

"How's she holding up?" Dean asked, glancing up at me from the small radio in front of him. I just stared back, not wanting to say.

"Salt lines are holding up." Sam interjected.

"Safe for now."

"Saf _er_. Trapped like rats."

"Hey, you heard Meg. Her father's here. This is our one shot, Sammy. We gotta take it, no matter what." Dean said, continuing to fidget with the radio until it squealed. "Here we go."

"Sam, can I get some help over here, please?" Ellen called.

As Sam left, Dean held up the radio's mouthpiece. "K C 5 Fox Delta Oscar, come in."

" _K C 5 Fox Delta Oscar, go ahead._ " Bobby responded.

"Bobby, it's Dean. We got problems."

" _It's okay, boy. That's why I'm here. Is everyone alright?_ "

"It- it- it's Jo. It's bad."

" _Okay. Copy that. So now we figure out what we do next._ "

"Bobby, I don't think she's-"

" _I said, what do we do next?_ "

"Right, okay."

" _Now, tell me what you got._ "

"Not a lot. Cas is gone, he went after reapers."

" _Did Cas say how many?_ "

"I don't- he said a lot of things, I guess. Does the number matter?"

" _Devil's in the details, Dean._ "

I took the microphone from Dean, holding it up, trying to control my breathing. "Bobby, it's Tori. When Cas was looking around, his eyes landed on a lot of places. A lot of reapers, I'm guessing. Probably more than a dozen."

" _I_ _don't like the sound of that._ "

"Nobody likes the sound of that, Bobby, but what exactly does that sound like?"

" _It sounds like death. I think Satan's in town to work a ritual. I think he's planning to unleash Death._ "

"You mean, like, as in this dude and taxes are the only sure thing?" Dean asked.

" _As in Death. The horseman. The pale rider in the flesh._ "

"Unleash? I mean, hasn't Death been tromping all over the place? Hell, I've died several times myself."

" _Not this guy. This is- this is the angel of death. Big daddy reaper. They keep this guy chained in a box six hundred feet under. Last time they hauled him up, Noah was building a boat. That's why the place is crawling with reapers. They're waiting on the big boss to show._ "

"You have any other good news?"

" _In a manner of speaking. I been researching Carthage since you've been gone, trying to suss out what the devil might want there. What you just said drops the last piece of the puzzle in place. The angel of death must be brought into this world at midnight through a place of awful carnage. Now, back during the Civil War, there was a battle in Carthage. A battle so intense the soldiers called it the Battle of Hellhole._ "

"Where'd the massacre go down?"

" _On the land of William Jasper's farm._ "

After finishing speaking to Bobby, Sam came back over and we told him what Bobby had told us. Ellen still sat on the floor next to Jo, who still looked no better, her face draining of all color.

"Now we know where the devil's gonna be, we know when, and we have the Colt." Dean said.

"Yeah." Sam nodded. "We just have to get past eight or so hellhounds and get to the farm by midnight."  
"That's after we get Jo and Ellen the hell out of town." I added.

"Won't be easy."

"Stretcher?" Dean suggested.

"I'll see what we got." Sam turned to walk away, stopping at the sound of Jo's voice.

"Stop. Guys, stop." Jo called, her voice weak. "Can we be realistic about this, please? I can't move my legs. I can't be moved. My guts are being held in by an ace bandage. We gotta- we gotta get our priorities straight here. Number one, I'm not going anywhere."

"Joanna Beth, you stop talking like that." Ellen scolded.

"Mom. I can't fight. I can't walk. But I can do something. We got propane, wiring, rock salt, iron nails, everything we need."

"Everything we need?" Sam asked.

"To build a bomb, Sam."

"No, Jo." I said, shaking my head at her.

"You got another plan? You got any other plan? Those are hellhounds out there, Tori. They've got all of our scents. Those bitches will never stop coming after you. We let the dogs in, you guys hit the roof, make a break for the building next over. I can wait here with my finger on the button, rip those mutts a new one. Or at least get you a few minutes head start, anyway."

"No, I- I won't let you." Ellen muttered, her voice thick with emotion.

"This is why we're here, right? If I can get us a shot on the devil, we have to take it."

"No! That's not-"

"Mom. This might literally be your last chance to treat me like an adult. Might wanna take it?" Jo asked with a smile.

Ellen began sobbing before hardening her gaze, looking up to us. "You heard her. Get to work."

* * *

Night had fallen over us, the moonlight barely streaming into the windows of the store. The boys had assembled a bomb, bringing it over to Jo. Sam held her hand for a moment, shooting her a small smile that she returned. I knelt down in front of her, trying to stop the tears from pouring out of my eyes.

"Okay, this is it." Dean said. "I'll see you on the other side. Probably sooner than later."

"Make it later." Jo smiled, tears running down her cheeks. Dean placed the button in Jo's hand, leaning in to kiss her on the forehead. Ellen came over then, sitting next to her daughter, the look in her eyes saying she wasn't leaving. "Mom, no."

"Somebody's gotta let them in. Like you said, you're not moving. You got me, Jo. And you're right, this is important. But I will not leave you here alone." Ellen said fiercely, looking over to me, seeing the hurt on my face. "It's okay, honey."

"Nothing about this is okay." I muttered, looking over to Jo, tucking some hair behind her ear. "You're the biggest pain in the ass I'm ever gonna have to deal with."

"Good." Jo smiled weakly. "That's what I was going for."

"You succeeded."

"I want you to remember me-"

"I couldn't forget you, Jo."

"Good. But I still want you to have this." Jo muttered, nodding down to the light brown bead bracelet on her wrist, glancing over to Ellen with a smile. "Mom gave this to me when I turned twelve."

"Jo, no."

"I want you to have it, Tori."

"Are- are you sure?"

"Yeah." Jo said, Ellen nodding in agreement.

Gently, I pulled the bracelet off of Jo, placing it on my own wrist. Finally, the tears fell from my eyes as I looked the two women I'd come to love like family and I couldn't hold back the sobs anymore. "I love you guys."

"We love you." Ellen said, smiling up at me.

"Please-"

"Tori. You kids gotta get going."

"Ellen-"

"I said go." Ellen said, her voice hard, but eyes soft. I nodded, knowing I wasn't about to be able to sway them and stood to my feet, taking a few steps back towards the boys, who were looking down at them with the same heartbroken expression I was. "And kids? Kick it in the ass. Don't miss."

We all shared one more look before Sam, Dean and I left, heading for the stairs that led to the roof. The three of us ran from the building, getting about a block away before a loud boom echoing through the air. I glanced back, seeing the smoke rising from where the store was and nearly fell to my knees.

"If they don't go straight to heaven, I'm calling fucking bullshit!" I shouted, the tears streaming down my face as Dean gently, but quickly dragged me away.

* * *

 **FARM – NIGHT**

An overwhelming feeling of nausea filled my stomach as we crept behind bushes, stopping to peer through a small clearing at a field where dozens of men stood, staring at something in the ground.

"Guess we know what happened to some of the townspeople." Dean muttered.

"Okay." Sam nodded, looking between Dean and I. "Last words?"

"Life really fucking sucks." I mumbled, feeling numb.

Dean nodded. "I second that."

"Here we go." Sam said, stepping out from behind the bushes, readying his shotgun. "Hey! You wanted to see me?"

"Oh, Sam." Lucifer turned to face him, dropping the shovel he was carrying. "You don't need that gun here. You know I'd never hurt you. Not really."

"Yeah? Well, I'd hurt you." Dean said, stepping out, pointing the Colt at Lucifer's forehead. "So suck it."

The bullet flew from the Colt, landing right in between Lucifer's eyes, sending him flying to the ground, motionless. I watched in shock and he stayed on the ground. Did we really do it?

"Ow." He muttered, standing up much to our horror, looking at the gun. "Where did you get that? Listen, don't feel too bad. There's only five things in all of creation that that gun can't kill, and I just happen to be one of them. But if you give me a minute, I'm almost done." Lucifer said, picking up his shovel before punching Dean in the face, sending him flying across the field, hitting into a tree.

"Dean!" I called, rushing over to him.

Lucifer leaned on the shovel, smiling at me. "You, too? Why, it's my lucky day. I don't suppose either of you would just say yes here and now? End this whole tiresome discussion? That's crazy, right?"

"It's never gonna happen!" Sam exclaimed.

"Oh, I don't know, Sam. I think it will. I think it'll happen soon. Within six months. And I think it'll happen in Detroit."

"You listen to me, you son of a bitch. I'm gonna kill you myself, you understand me? I'm going to rip your heart out!"

"That's good, Sam. You keep fanning that fire in your belly. All that pent-up rage. I'm gonna need it."

"What did you do to this town?" I asked.

"Just like Camael." Lucifer muttered, shaking his head. "Worrying about the people, huh? So much so, you fell in love with one."

"I am a human."

"You're an angel, Victoria."

"No, I'm not."

"That's where you're wrong. Coming here was the biggest mistake of your life. Want to know why? Because I got you now."

"What did you do to these people?" I pushed, ignoring his words, even though they scared me.

"Oh, I was very generous with this town. One demon for every able-bodied man."

"And the rest of them?"

"In there." He said, nodding to the pit he had been covering with dirt. "I know, it's awful, but these horsemen are so demanding. So it was women and children first. I know what you must think of me. But I have to do this. I have to." Lucifer said, looking to Sam. "You of all people should understand."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sam asked.

"I was a son. A brother, like you, a younger brother, and I had two older siblings who I loved. Idolized, in fact. And one day I went to them and I begged them to stand with me, and they- they turned on me. Called me a freak. A monster. And then they beat me down. All because I was different. Because I had a mind of my own. Tell me something, Sam. Any of this sound familiar? Anyway. You'll have to excuse me. Midnight is calling and I have a ritual to finish. Don't go anywhere. Not that you could if you would."

Sam came over to Dean and I then, dropping to his knee's on his brother's other side as Dean began to stir.

"Repeat after me." Lucifer continued, the demons miming him. "We offer up our lives, blood, souls. We offer up our lives, blood, souls to complete this tribute."

Just then, Cas appeared, holding a finger to his lips, silently telling us to keep quiet before he placed his hands on us, and in the blink of an eye, we were gone.

* * *

 **SOUIX FALLS, SD – DAY**

Back on the red couch in Bobby's living room, the heat from the fireplace spread through the room. My eyes were puffy and red from crying. Ellen's shot glasses were still on the table along with Jo's beer. Neither one of us had the heart to clean them up. Sam sat to my left holding my hand while Dean sat to my right, my head resting on his shoulder.

Without a word, Bobby picked up the now developed picture we'd taken before heading to Carthage, tossing it into the fire where it burred, turning to ashes.

* * *

 **Happy birthday Dean!  
**

 **Crowley has finally arrived, who else is excited about that? ;D**

 **Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it and it wasn't too heartbreaking (though it totally was, I know. Sorry.)**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction **


	12. Angel, Interrupted

_We may still have time  
We might still get by  
Every time I think about it I want to cry  
With the bombs and the devils  
And the kicks keep coming  
Nowhere to breathe easy  
No time to be young  
But I tell myself that I'm doing alright  
There's nothing left to do tonight_

… _.._

My love is the evening breeze touching your skin  
The gentle sweet singing of leaves in the wind  
The whisper that calls after you in the night  
And kisses your ear in the early light  
You don't need to wonder, you're doing fine  
And my love, the pleasure's mine

...

Wild man's world is crying in pain  
What you gonna do when everybody's insane?  
So afraid of wonder, so afraid of you  
What you gonna do?  
…..

 _I was willow last night in my dream  
I bent down over a clear running stream  
I sang you the song that I heard up above  
And you keep me alive with your sweet flowing love_

 _Crazy  
Crazy on you  
Let me go crazy, crazy on you  
Crazy on you _

_**Heart – Crazy On You**_

* * *

The time that passed didn't seem to matter, and things just kept getting worse. Earthquakes, tornadoes, floods. It had been about week since we lost Ellen and Jo, and I hadn't taken her bracelet off since. Every time I thought about them, my heart hurt. They never should have come with us in the first place.

Time was something we needed that we never got. And after Sam got a call from an old friend of John's we headed to Ketchum, Oklahoma. I felt a pit in my stomach as we stood in the office of the psychiatric hospital. This plan as asinine at best, but according to Sam, we still had to do what we had to do.

Dr. Fuller sat in front of us at his desk, looking through a file. "You were referred to me by a Dr. Babar in Chicago?"

I nodded. "Uh, yeah, that's right."

"Isn't there a children's book about an elephant named Babar?"

"I don't know. I don't have any elephant books. Look, I think the other doctor was in over his head with this one. 'Cause my brothers are...nuts."

"Okay, fine, thank you. That's-that's really not necessary." The Doctor nodded, picking up a pen and notepad before turning to Sam. "Why don't you tell me how you're feeling, Alex?"

"I'm fine. I mean, okay, a little depressed, I guess." Sam replied.

"Any idea why?"

"Probably because I started the apocalypse."

Dr. Fuller stopped, looking up. "The apocalypse?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"And you think you started it?"

"Well, yeah, I mean...I killed this demon, Lilith, and I accidentally freed Lucifer from hell. So now, he's topside, and we're trying to stop him."

"Who is?"

"Me and them." Sam answered, pointing to Dean and I.

"See what I mean?" I asked.

"The kid's been beating himself up about this for months. The apocalypse wasn't his fault." Dean added.

"It- it's not?" Dr. Fuller asked.

"No. See, I went to hell and broke the first seal. And there was this other demon, Ruby. She got him addicted to demon blood, and near the end, he was practically chugging this stuff. My brother's not evil. He was just...high. So, could you fix him up so we can get back to traveling around the country and hunting monsters?"

"It's good you brought them in when you did." The doctor said, looking at me.

"Yeah, yeah, me too. But I can't take all the credit."

"Oh?"

"No. The angels told me to."

"Oh, you mean, like a- like an angel on your shoulder."

"No." I said, completely serious.

"So, y- you speak to angels?"

"There is this one in particular that's helping us figure out how to stop the end of the world. His name's Castiel. He wears a trench coat, but he's not the one to told me to bring them. See I can't really _talk_ to angels unless they're here on earth in a vessel. They talk to me. And boy, are they loud. They don't shut up! It's just a constant high-pitched ringing in my ears. Drives me crazy." I laughed.

Dr. Fuller looked at me in complete shock, picking up his phone, dialing a number. "Irma, cancel my lunch."

* * *

 **PATIENT LOUNGE – DAY**

It was no surprise that all three of us were admitted, and after my check-up with the nurse, which was a little too handsy for my liking, I made my way out to the lounge where everyone was wandering around. I spotted Sam and Dean sitting over on a couch, wearing the same blue pants and white shirt I was, looking rather uncomfortable.

"Hey. How'd the nurse visit go?"

"Yeah. Yeah, good. Good. Yeah." Sam nodded, glancing up at Dean. "Did the nurse..."

"She was very through." Dean replied, looking up to me. "What about you?"

"She did a little more than the usual nurse would, I think." I shrugged.

"Too bad I missed it."

"You're disgusting." I huffed, sitting in between the two, looking over to Sam. "I can't believe you talked us into this."

"Hey, it's the least we could do." Sam said. "Martin saved Dad's ass more times than we can count. He's a great hunter."

"Was." Dean pointed out. "Until Albuquerque."

"Besides, I just figure it's best we keep busy. That's all. Because the last week, you've kind of been worrying me."

"Oh, come on, Sam. Stop. Look, just because we're in the loony bin doesn't give you the right to head-shrink us."

"Dean."

"Ellen and Jo dying, yeah, it was a fucking tragedy, okay? But I'm not gonna wallow in it."

"I am." I mumbled. "I wanted to. I was prepared to wallow."

"Dean, you can't just keep this crap in." Sam said.

"Watch me." Dean said, looking over to a table, spotting Martin. "Oh, there he is."

Sam and I shared a look as Dean got up before following him over to Martin, who was staring out the window blankly, only looking at us after Sam cleared his throat. He stood, shaking our hands. "Sam, Dean, Victoria. Wow. Wow, you kids got big. You look good."

"Thanks." Sam nodded. "You do too, Martin."

"Well, thanks for coming." Martin smiled as we all sat down at the table. "In the old days, I could've taken care of this thing with both hands tied behind my back...but, well...now..."

"What do you think it is that we're hunting?" I asked.

"I don't know yet. A ghost, demon, monster...animal, vegetable, mineral. Hospital's had five deaths in the last four months. Doctors keep calling it suicides, but they're wrong."

"So you've seen this thing?" Sam asked, to which Martin shook his head.

"Has anyone seen this thing?" Dean inquired.

"Well, a couple patients have had glimpses, but there's not a lot to go on."

"Are they reliable?"

"Oh, sure, why wouldn't they be?"

Dean glanced over at a woman who was spinning around, humming to herself, before turning back to Martin with a pointed look. "Gee, I don't know."

"I know you kids think I'm a bag of loose screws. Now, you wouldn't be wrong. But I wouldn't have called you unless there was something here. I can feel it in my gut."

"We believe you." Sam nodded. "Have you checked any of the bodies? Found signs of an attack?"

"Well, uh, no, I don't go around dead b- b- b-bodies anymore." Martin flinched.

"Alex, Eddie, Valerie." Dr. Fulller called, walking up behind us. "I'm glad to see you're making friends. Why don't you and Mr. Creaser join us for group? Please. Right this way." The four of us got up, Sam and Martin walking past Dr. Fuller without a problem. When it came to Dean and I, however, Dr. Fuller stopped us. "Actually, I'm gonna be putting you in the afternoon group. And you in the night group."

"What?" I asked. "Why?"

"Well, to be frank, the relationship the three of you have seems dangerously codependent. I think a little time apart will do you good."

* * *

DPOV

Sometime later, Tori and I were playing chess in the lounge. I moved a piece, smiling. "King me!"

"You think Sam is okay?" Tori asked, ignoring the play.

"I'm sure he's fine."

"Yeah. I guess."

"He's alright, Tor."

"Yeah."

"Eddie?" A pretty brunette doctor called, smiling down at me. "I'm Dr. Erica Cartwright. I've been assigned to your case."

"You're my shrink?" I asked, glancing over at Tori with a wink before looking back to the doctor. "Lucky me."

"And you're-" She paused, reading from a file. "my undifferentiated schizophrenic with narcissistic personality disorder and religious psychosis. Lucky me."

"Hi Valerie." A young blonde male doctor announced, walking up beside Dr. Cartwright, smiling at Tori. "I'm Dr. Richard Stanley. I was assigned to your case."

"Oh, really?" Tori asked with a grin.

"Yeah. Can we go talk somewhere?"

Jealousy rushed through me as Tori smiled up at him, shooting me a similar look that I'd given her before looking back to her doctor. "Sure."

I watched Tori as she walked away with her doctor, barely even registering the fact that Dr. Cartwright had sat down in front of me. "Can we talk?"

"Yes." I nodded, snapping out of it when Tori and Dr. _Dick_ moved out of view. "I actually got some questions for you."

"What a coincidence. I've got some for you, too."

"Well, then. _Quid pro quo, Clarice_."

"Okay, Hannibal. I'll go first. How many hours a night do you sleep?"

"Three or four, every couple of nights. What can you tell me about the recent suicides in here?"

"They were tragic."

"But you haven't noticed anything...strange? Like, I don't know, black smoke or sulfur?"

"No. Why? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Demon signs. I hunt demons, monsters, that kind of thing."

"How many drinks do you have a week?"

"Well, I gotta sleep sometime. So, uh, what's seven days times somewhere in the mid fifties? You ever feel any, cold spots or get a chill walking through the hospital?"

"Not that I can remember. If I had?"

"It means there's a ghost around."

"Okay. When was the last time you were in a long-term relationship?"

"Right now."

"With?"

"A girl."

"For how long?"

"About ten years now."

"Wow. What's her name?"

"Tori."

"Tori?" Dr. Cartwright asked, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't I just hear you call your sister Tori?"

"It's not like that." I said, shaking my head.

"What is it like, Eddie?"

"Uh, I mean, we're- her name is Valerie. I call her Tori. My dad adopted her."

"So you're in a relationship with your adopted sister?"

"Well, when you say it like that..." I trailed off, changing the subject again. "Have the patients reported seeing anything weird?

"In here? All the time."

"Right."

"So." Dr. Cartwright breathed, leaning forward. "Let's talk about your father."

* * *

TPOV

"Alright, Valerie. So you came in here with your brothers?" Dr. Stanley asked.

"Yeah." I nodded. "Mind if I ask a question?"

"No, go ahead."

"What's my diagnosis?" I asked, seeing him shoot me a look. "What? Don't I deserve to know what this place thinks of me?"

Dr. Stanley nodded, opening his folder. "You're a paranoid schizophrenic with dependent personality disorder."

"Wow." I breathed, looking down to the table. Maybe I really am crazy.

"Can I ask more questions now?"

"I guess."

"How much do you sleep a night?"

"A couple hours. Maybe more."

"You said you hear ringing. Does that stop you from sleeping?"

"Only sometimes. When the angels get really loud. Otherwise, I just can't sleep." I told him truthfully. What more could they do to me now?

"Have you ever had nightmares?"

I paused, swallowing hard. "Yeah."

"What kind?"

"Bad ones. That's why they're called nightmares."

Dr. Stanley nodded, shooting me a small smile. "You can tell me you know. This is a judgment free zone."

"I heard people have died in here." I said, changing the subject.

"Yes, it's very sad."

"How did it happen?"

"They- well, they killed themselves."

"Have you seen anything weird?"

"Weird? Like what?"

"Maybe something you can't explain. Something that's just...off? Weirder than the people that are already in here."

"Like something...supernatural?"

"Sure, yeah."

"No, Valerie, I can't say that I have. Listen, why don't we go back? Maybe to your childhood? How was it?"

"It was…" I paused, thinking of Rose and Peter, the love and stability they gave me. "Good. It was good."

"Did anything happen that wasn't so good?"

"About a month after I turned fourteen I was possessed by a demon. That wasn't so good." Suddenly, the ringing in my ears grow louder, and I saw a flash of someone next to me, but when I looked they were gone. "Did you see that?"

"See what?"

"There was someone standing there."

"Was there?"

"Yes." I looked around the room, seeing that we were, in fact, alone.

" _I don't think he knows I'm here_." A voice spoke clear as day in my head, breaking through the ringing with ease.

"Who?" Dr. Stanley asked.

"I- I don't know."

" _Don't be shy. You know._ "

"What?" I asked, looking over to Dr. Stanley, seeing that he wasn't speaking. "What did you say?"

"Are you hearing a voice now, Valerie?"

"No, I- I can't be."

" _Oh, but you are. Hi Vicki."_

* * *

After Dr. Stanley stopped picking my brain, I was left alone with my own thoughts and why I was suddenly hearing another voice in my head. Is it possible that I've suddenly figured out how to decipher angel speak and can hear them? I wasn't sure. All I knew was, I wanted to get out of here.

I made my way down a hallway with a few other patients, spotting Dean in the crowd. I walked over to him, seeing that he had his hands in his pockets, staring down to the floor.

"Dean?" I called, startling him. "Are you okay?"

"I just got _thraped_."

"Yeah, me too."

"I hope Sam found something."

As we moved down the hallway, Sam exited another room, walking over to us. "Hey, how-"

"Don't ask. Did you hear anything?"

"Yeah. A guy says he saw the creature. We should talk to him. You wanna meet here in an hour?"

"Yeah, sooner we take care of this thing, sooner we can get gone. This place gives me the creeps."

* * *

Once the nurses came to collect everyone, the three of us were split up once again and I was placed in a room with a bubbly, overtly happy woman named Wendy. Other than the fact that she kept checking me out every two seconds, she wasn't too bad.

An hour later, after the nurses went to start their rounds, I crept out of my room, meeting Sam and Dean in the hallway.

"We got, like, fifteen, twenty minutes. So, where is this guy?" Dean asked.

"Room 306." Sam replied as we began our walk down the hallway to the room.

Just as we rounded the corner, the sound of a man screaming filled the building. We quickened our pace, rushing to Ted's room, peering in the window, seeing nothing. When Sam moved to pick the lock, a pair of feet suddenly hit the window, startling us. Sam successfully picked the lock, but by the time we entered the room, it was too late. Ted was hanging from the ceiling by his neck, dead.

* * *

The boys and I went our separate ways after that, rushing back to our respective rooms, waiting until the next morning when someone found Ted and brought him into the morgue. Waiting until the nurses took their rounds again, we headed into the morgue. I shut the door behind us, watching as Dean went over to the drawers, sliding Ted out.

Sam put on a pair of gloves, moving the sheet back, beginning to feel behind Ted's ears. "Hey, I think I found something."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Right here." Sam muttered, taking a long q-tip, sticking it behind the man's ear. I watched as it disappeared, growing shorter and shorter. "This hole goes all the way through to his brain."

"What does that mean?" Dean asked.

Sam shrugged, looking over to a bone saw. "Let's find out."

"You're kidding, right?" I grimaced.

"You guys might want to keep watch."

With that, Dean and I made our way back out into the hallway, sharing a disgusted look when the bone saw started up, the sound of it hitting something hard echoing through the room. Just then, I heard a door click down the length of the hallway, Dean and I rushing back into the morgue, seeing Sam holding a small black object.

"Look, his brain's been sucked dry."

"Ew." I mumbled.

"That's fascinating." Dean nodded. "Somebody's coming."

The three of us rushed to clean up, Sam placed the brain back before Dean and I covered up the body, pushing the shelf back into the wall as Sam took of his bloody gloves, throwing them in the trash. Just as we turned around, the grope-y nurse entered, looking at us suspiciously.

"What are you three doing in here?"

We shared a look, each us silently asking the other to come up with something. Out of nowhere Dean shrugged, pulling his pants down to his ankles, throwing his arms up over his head, smiling as he bounced up and down on his feet. "Pudding!"

I stared at him with my mouth hanging open, a mixture of embarrassment, anger at him flashing his junk at another woman and the struggle of wanting to laugh at the sheer idiocy of it all fighting inside me.

"Alright, come on, you guys." The nurse smiled.

Dean bent down, pulling his pants back up, turning back to Sam and I as he headed for the door, keeping his voice low. "Crazy works."

* * *

 **PATIENT LOUNGE**

"Are those original Gacy's?" Dean asked with a chuckle as the three of us stood by Martin, looking at a few paintings of clowns on the wall.

"I painted those." Martin said, looking a little offended.

"Oh. It- it's good."

"Back on point, please." Sam muttered, looking away from the pictures uncomfortably. "So, whatever this thing is, it Slurpees your brain, sucks you dry."

"And then makes the death look like a suicide." I said. "Any ideas?"

"Yeah. A bad one." Martin nodded, pulling out a journal from his robe, showing us a few pictures of a humanoid creature with a long stake coming out of it's wrist.

"What is it?" Dean asked.

"Well, I bet you a chicken dinner it's what we're up against...a wraith. They crack open skulls and feed on brain juice."

"You ever tangle with one before?" Sam asked.

"Never. Never wanted to, either."

"How do we kill it?" I asked.

"Silver. You so much as touch a wraith with the stuff, and the skin will crackle. Now, that's the good news. The bad news is...they can pass as humans. It could be any Peter, Paul and Mary in the joint."

"Fantastic." Dean mumbled. "So, how do we find it?"

"A mirror. Lore says a wraith will show its true form in a mirror."

"Okay. We just gotta spot check every patient and every staff member."

* * *

A little bit later, Dean and I were standing around the nurses station, watching people walk by in the mirror on the wall.

"You still mad at me?" Dean asked.

"Why, because you showed some woman your dick? No Dean, I'm not mad at all." I mumbled, folding my arms.

"Tor, I did what I had to. It helped, didn't it?"

"Oh, yeah. Big help."

"Thanks." Dean muttered suggestively.

"So not what I meant. How would you feel if I flashed my boobs at some dude?"

Dean though for a moment, letting out a breath. "I wouldn't like it."

"There you go." I nodded as Dr. Cartwright walked over.

"What's up, Doc?"

"You tell me." She shrugged. I listened to their conversation, trying to shake the feeling that was building inside of me.

"Hunting. A wraith, actually. Could be anybody."

"So, I could be a monster?"

I glanced up in the mirror at the same time Dean had, seeing she was normal. "No, you're clean."

"Why you?"

"Why us, what?"

"Why do you have to hunt monsters? Why not let someone else do it?"

"Can't find anybody else that dumb." Dean muttered, glancing back over to her after a moment. "It's our job. Somebody's gotta save people's asses, yours included."

"So, is there a quota? How many people do you have to save?"

"All of them."

"All of them? You think you have to save everyone?"

"Pretty much." I nodded.

"Whole wide world of sports." Dean added.

"How?" She asked. Dean glanced over at me, unsure whether or not to say anything. "Believe me, whatever you've got, I've heard weirder."

"It's the end of the world, okay? I mean, it's a damn Biblical apocalypse, and if we don't stop it and save everyone, then no one will, and we all die."

"That's horrible."

"Tell me about it."

"I mean, apocalypse or no apocalypse...monsters or no monsters, that's a crushing weight to have on your shoulders. To feel like six billion lives depend on you. God...how do you get up in the morning?"

Dean glanced over at me, staring into my eyes. "Something makes me."

I smiled back at him, seeing Dr. Fuller pass out of the corner of my eye. I looked up, seeing a decaying face with matted hair in the mirror instead of the reflection of the older man. Dean and I shared a look, watching him as he moved down the hallway.

* * *

"We had to raid three nurses stations to get these." I told Dean as Sam and I approached him and Martin in the hallway, pulling out a few letter-openers, handing them to Martin and Dean. "They're only silver-plated, but they should work."

"There you are!" Wendy called, walking over to me. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Oh, that's nice, Wendy. I'm a little busy now-

My voice was cut off my her taking my face in her hands, pulling my lips onto hers, pressing me against the wall. I grabbed her wrists, pushing her back, seeing Dean staring with an open mouth and wide eyes out of the corner of mine.

"Holy shit." Dean breathed.

"Aw, don't feel left out." Wendy smile, pulling him down to kiss her as well before smiling up at Sam, who was staring in shock, kissing him. "I have enough love to go around."

"Okay, W- Wendy, we really are in the middle of something." I muttered, smiling at her.

"Okay. I'll see you later. In our room." She smiled suggestively, running a finger down my chest before walking away.

To my right, Dean was practically hyperventilating, his eyes wide as softballs. I rolled my eyes. "Get it together, Dean."

"But- you- I- you- and- you kissed another girl." Dean finally spat out, looking down at me with a smirk.

"First of all, she kissed me. Second, don't act so surprised."

"Why shouldn't I be surprised?"

"Because Dean, that wasn't the first time I kissed another girl." I said, seeing his eyes widened even more as he stared down at me. "Didn't I tell you that?"

"No! Where the hell was I when this happened?"

"We weren't together yet. I was drunk and so was the other girl and we just kissed. I could've sworn I told you about that."

"No, no, you didn't. I would've remembered. So, was- was it just a kiss or did you full on make out with her?"

"We might've made out a little"

"Tori! These are things I need to know!"

"Can we- I mean, can we get stated here?" Sam interjected, looking at us with a grimace.

"Good idea." I nodded.

"Fuller is on call tonight, so we'll have to hit him after lights out. All four of us."

"What?" Martin asked, shaking his head. "No."

"Martin, we gotta get past security, past the orderlies, and then cut the boss-man's throat, okay? It's gonna suck start to finish, but we could use the backup." Dean said, back in a more serious mode.

"I can't. I- I can't."

"We know what happened in Albuquerque." I told him.

"You don't know the half of it. God, I used to be just like you three. I used to think I was invincible, and then...well, I found out I'm not."

"Martin, you're still a hunter." Dean said.

"No. I'm not. I'm useless. Why do you think I checked myself into the Hotel California? I'd give anything to help you kids, I would. But, I- I can't. I'm sorry. I can't."

* * *

After Dean, Sam and I split up, it didn't take long for word to spread that something had happened to Dr. Fuller. Martin caught up with Dean and I, letting us know what happened to Sam, how he almost killed the doctor, even though he wasn't a wraith.

But it didn't make sense. That wasn't like Sam. And I knew what I saw in that mirror.

The both of us made our way to Sam's room, where he was alone and drugged up, leaning against the wall, staring up at the ceiling.

"Sam?" I called. "You okay?

"No. No, I'm not okay. I- I am... _awesome..."_ He replied.

"They give you something?" Dean asked.

"Oh, yeah. They gave me...everything. It's spectacu-lacular."

"You always were a happy drunk."

Sam reached out, pulling me closer. "The doctor...wasn't a wraith."

"We know." I nodded. Sam's eyes widened comically at this, astonished at how we knew. "Martin told us what happened."

"Oh."

"I don't understand it." Dean muttered. "I mean Tori and I both saw it in the mirror. It wasn't human."

"Or you're seeing things. Maybe- maybe- maybe you're going crazy."

"We're not crazy."

"Well...come on. I mean, you both have been at least...half crazy for a long time. Since you got back from hell, and since he _went_ to hell." Sam said, looking to me. "Or since before that, even. I mean, we're in a- we're in a mental hospital. Maybe- maybe you guys have finally _cracked!_ You know, maybe now you are really...for real...crazy..."

God, I didn't want to believe that. But it seemed more and more like the truth everyday.

"We made a mistake, that's all." Dean said. "We'll find the thing."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I know." Sam nodded, placing his hands on our shoulders. "It's okay. Hey, look at me. Look at me. Loo-"

"We're looking, Sam." I smiled.

"Okay. It's okay. Because you're my family. And I still love you."

"We love you, too."

Sam smiled, poking both mine and Dean's noses with his pointer fingers. "Boop!"

* * *

After Dean and I left the room,, we made our way out to the lounge, trying to come up with some kind of plan. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something flicker again, the ringing in my ears getting louder.

"Did you see that?" I asked Dean.

"What? No."

"Oh, come on. There was somebody right there." I said, looking back to the empty space where the figure was before turning to Dean. "I'm losing it, Dean."

"No."

"Yeah. I'm seeing things. I'm-" I paused, not wanting to tell him I was hearing things, too.

"What?"

"Nothing." I sighed, feeling tired all of a sudden.

Not too long after that, a nurse escorted me into the room where Wendy was already asleep in her bed. I laid down, Sam's words repeating in my mind over and over again as I drifted off to sleep.

 _Maybe you've finally cracked. Maybe now you are really, for real, crazy._

The ringing in my ears grow louder once again, only this time, it was actually painful, vibrating my brain around in my head. I clutched my temples, breathing heavily as a better image of the same man from before appeared next to me. I jumped back, looking around the room with wide eyes, seeing that he was gone.

" _Let's just talk._ " The voice spoke. My breathing picked up as I frantically looked around, not finding anyone there. " _Come on, Victoria._ "

"Who are you?" I asked into the darkness.

" _You know who I am._ _I'm in your head. I'm in your blood. I told you. I got you now_."

* * *

DPOV

The next morning, I headed out to the lounge. On my way there, Dr. Cartwright found me in the hallways, walking beside me. "You missed our session today."

"I was a little busy. Still am."

"Hunting that wraith?"

"People are dying."

"People die all the time."

"Look, lady, why don't you just let me do my job, maybe save your life."

"It's not my life that I'm worried about."

"Oh my g- I am fine, okay? I'm fine."

"Come on, even you don't believe that. All this pressure that you're putting yourself under, all this guilt, it's killing you. You can't save everybody. You can't." She said, her voice becoming hard suddenly. "Hell, these days, you can't save anybody, Dean."

"What did you say?"

"The truth, Dean. You got Ellen and Jo killed. You shot Lucifer, but you couldn't gank him. You couldn't stop Sam from killing Lilith, and, oh yeah, you broke the first seal. All you do is fail. Did you really think that you, Dean Winchester with a GED and a give-'em-hell attitude, were gonna beat the devil? Please. The world is gonna burn, and there is nothing that you can do about it."

"Who are you? How do you know that stuff?" I asked, my voice growing louder.

"Hey, settle down." An orderly called from down the hall.

"Tell me!" I shouted at her.

"I said, settle down."

"Who are you?" I repeated, backing away from Dr. Cartwright, glancing over at the orderly, pointing to the doctor. "Who is she?"

"Who?"

"What are you, blind? Her!"

"Pal, there's nobody there." He muttered.

"I'm not real, Dean." She said, a sinister smile on her face. "I'm in your head...because you are going crazy."

I looked around the hallway, seeing that Dr. Cartwright was now one. The orderly stared at me, looking as though he's seen this before. My eyes flickered around the room as I backed away, going in the opposite direction down the hallway where I saw the grope-y nurse and Dr. Stanley, looking in the mirror to see that they had wraith faces. I quickly passed by them, my breathing picking up as I spotted two patients, who also appeared to be wraiths in another mirror.

My heart pounded in my chest as I quickened my pace, reaching a door at the end of the hall. No matter what I did, it wouldn't budge. I backed into the corner, sliding down to the floor as visions of wraiths ran though my head, a new one appearing every time I blinked.

* * *

SPOV

"You asked to see me?" Dr. Fuller asked, entering the room with an orderly behind him.

"Yeah. Thanks. I- I just wanted to apologize. I feel horrible about what I did to you. I thought you were a monster."

"I know that. The question is, why?"

"I was...It doesn't matter, um...because after what happened last night, I had a...moment of clarity. I realized...there's no such thing as monsters."

"Well, I'm glad to hear you say that, but, honestly? Monsters are the least of your problems. People can learn to live with delusions, but the anger I saw in you...you hurt those two men, and you were going to kill me. The look in your eyes when you came after me it- it was like you were barely even human...like a man possessed."

"I know." I nodded, guilty. "Please...just...could you give me a second chance?"

"I don't know, Sam."

"How do you know my name?"

"Do you realize what you've done? We're all gonna die because of you. It's all your fault."

"What?"

"You killed all of us. Pathetic freak."

"You evil son of a bitch!"

All of them began shoving me, yelling out insults and calling me names. I tolerated it only for so long before throwing punches, my fists seemingly hitting nothing until I was held down, onto the bed.

* * *

TPOV

As I woke up, I looked over, seeing Wendy lying on the bed in a pool of blood, her throat slit. My eyes winded as I stared at her and I shut them tightly, hoping that when I reopened them, Wendy would be gone, along with the blood. But that didn't happen. Instead, blood began pouring down the walls, surrounding me.

" _See? She's dead. Just like everyone else in your life. You kill everyone._ " The voice spoke. " _Everyone around you dies. Don't you want that to stop? Don't you want to be powerful?_ "

"No. No. I didn't do that. I didn't do it!" I breathed heavily, my heart pounding in my chest.

" _Yes, you did. You killed Jo. You killed Ellen. And Dean. And John._ _Rose and Peter._ _It's your fault. Just listen to me. If you listen, you can have anything you want in this world. Anything you've ever dreamed of, it'll be yours to keep._ "

"Leave me alone."

" _I can't do that, Vicki. You know I can't._ " The voice muttered, the ringing becoming so loud I felt as though my brain was about to explode.

Over and over again, my mind told me that there was only one way to stop this. Only one way. My eyes lined up with the letter opener and I grabbed it, gripping it so tight that I cut my palm. There was only one way.

* * *

DPOV

The bustle of voices and commotion echoed through the lounge, and I stood up, walking into the hallway, seeing Tori on a stretcher, blood soaked into the sheet by her wrists where large wounds sat.

"Tori!" I shouted, about to run towards her when two orderly's grabbed my arms, holding me back until her and the nurses disappeared into another room.

* * *

Tori would never do that. She just wouldn't. I had to get to the bottom of this and fast. On my way to Martin's room, I stopped off at Sam's, having to pick the lock.

"Dean?" Sam asked as I entered, looking at me with cautious eyes.

"It's me, Sammy." I nodded. "We gotta go. Tori is hurt."

"What happened?"

"Doctors found her with her wrists slit in her room."

"What? Tori wouldn't do that."

"I know. Let's go."

"Okay." Sam nodded, the both of us rushing to Martin's room. On the way, Sam had told me what happened before with the doctor, something about it settling in my stomach wrong.

"Martin?" I called, entering his room.

Martin sat up, lowering the letter-opener he held when he realized it was us. "You look like hell, boy."

"I feel like it, too."

"Where's Tori?"

"I don't know. They took her."

"Where?"

"Her wrists were slit." I said, seeing Martin's eyes widened. "Martin, listen, I- I'm going crazy. I'm seeing things. I'm hearing things. I think Sam is, too. Come to think of it, Tori probably was. She wouldn't try to hurt herself like that. She wouldn't. Crazy is the clue."

"What do you mean?"

Just as I was about to explain, something at the other side of the room caught my eye and I stared after it until Martin snapped his fingers in front of my face. "Dean!"

"Crazy is the clue."

"You said that. What?"

"I mean, the things that we've done, the stuff that we've seen, we're gonna end up going guano eventually. Probably end up like a couple of drooling nut bags. No offense."

"None taken."

"But all of us freaking out on the same day? I mean, it's gotta be..."

"The monster." Sam finished.

"What? Where?" I asked, frantically looking around.

"No, there's nothing there." Martin said.

"Oh, okay. What if this thing doesn't just feed on the insane? What if it _makes_ people insane? Is it possible? Does that seem real?"

"Well, I'm not the most reliable source on what is real, but it sounds- it makes sense."

"Okay. Okay. So- so we got infected." Sam sputtered.

"Something shot us up with crazy." I added. "You know, something...maybe...maybe it's the ghost of my dad..."

"No. Focus on the wraith." Martin said. "Focus."

"Right." I nodded, trying to clear my head. "The wraith, the wraith. Okay. So, the wraith- the wraith, it-it poisoned us. It- yeah. Maybe with venom, you know? By- by touch...or- or venom, or saliva." I froze realizing at the same time Sam did, the both of us saying the same name. "Wendy."

"Wendy?"

"Wendy slobbered all over us. That's how we got infected!"

* * *

The three of us rushed down the hallway, hearing a woman scream coming from what used to be Tori's room. I kicked the door in, seeing Wendy lying on the bed, blood surrounding her. The grope-y nurse sat in the front of her, her reflection in the mirror clear as day. She was the wraith.

"Is this real?" I asked.

The nurse moved her hand away from Wendy's head, the long skewer in her wrist retracting as she did so. "Oh, it is, sugar It's very real."

Before I knew it, the wraith threw both me and Sam against the wall. Martin attacked her with his blade, but she easily threw him out of the room and into the hall before pinning me to the wall, punching me a few times. Sam rushed over, attacking the wraith from behind, cutting her hand as she shielded herself. She let out a cry, the cut smoking as Martin came back in, going over to Wendy. The wraith shot us hard looks, leaving the room, locking us in.

"She's alive." Martin announced, looking over at Sam and I. I felt myself swaying as I tried to gain my balance, out of the corner of my eye, seeing Sam doing the same. "Can you two hear me?You've gotta get out there and kill that thing. I'll take care of Wendy."

"I can't." I mumbled.

"You have to. You have no choice." Martin said just as two more orderlies entered, grabbing him. He fought back, distracting them long enough for Sam and I to slip out of the room, following a trail of blood droplets on the floor.

* * *

TPOV

My eyes fluttered open to a bright light above me. I looked around, seeing that I was strapped to a table, bandages on my wrists.

"Good morning, sunshine." The nurse smiled, walking forward, her face flashing in a mirror, letting me know she was the wraith.

"You."

"Of course, it's me. I gotta say, you hunters don't exactly live up to your rep. I mean, Martin's a wreck. He's harmless. And you and your family come in here, talking tough about killing monsters...kind of made you easy to spot. Then all it took was a touch… and you were mine. Oh, I love it in here. This place is my own personal five-star restaurant."

She smiled, running a finger across my forehead, sticking it into her mouth, moaning. "Crazy brains. They get soaked in dopamine and adrenaline and all sorts of hormones and chemicals that make them...delicious. And the crazier they are, the better they taste."

"You did this to me." I murmured, my breaths erratic. "You did this!"

"I only magnified the crazy that was already there." She shrugged, moving to sit down in front of me.

" _I could save you_." That voice spoke, ringing in my ears.

"Stop. Stop it." I muttered.

"I read your file you know. It's quite interesting. You think _Lucifer_ is speaking to you?"

" _That's because I am_." The voice mumbled petulantly.

"First angels, now Lucifer." She laughed, shaking her head.

"It's because of you." I spat.

"No. Like I said, I only magnify crazy. That's all you, sweetheart." She murmured, the skewer sliding out of her wrist as she forced my head to the side, the tip of it brushing against the back of my ear. Suddenly, the door burst open, Sam and Dean standing there, wobbling on their feet.

"You get away from her." Dean said, clearly struggling to stay upright.

"Do you really think this is gonna end well for you, kiddo?"

"No. But I'm crazy. So what the hell?"

The wraith chuckled, allowing her skewer to go back into her arm as Dean swung at her with the silver blade. She ducked, throwing him into the wall. Sam rushed in, attempting to get her from behind, when she elbowed him, sending him flying across the room as I watched helplessly from the bed, fighting against my restraints. The wraith grabbed Dean, pinning him to the wall by his throat, causing him to drop the blade as she lifting her hand, letting her skewer slide out of her wrist again.

I watched helplessly from the bed, fighting against my restraints as the point got closer and closer to Dean's forehead. Dean struggled, holding her arm as best he could in his clearly weakened state. Grabbing the skewer with his other hand, Dean broke it off, blood gushing from it.

The wraith backed up to the wall, screaming in pain as she stared down at her hand. Dean glanced down at the stake in his hand, looking at it with disgust. Sam crossed the floor, sliding the blade back over to Dean, who promptly picked it up, stabbing her in the heart. The blade burned her skin, smoke rising from the flesh as she dropped to the ground, dead.

Both Sam and Dean rushed over to my side, checking my wounds, helping me up from the table I was strapped down to.

"You still crazy?" Sam asked.

"Not any more than usual." Dean said, looking to me. "You?"

I waited a few moments, hearing nothing but silence. No voice. "I'm okay."

"Will you be alright to walk?"

"Yeah. I- I didn't loose that much blood."

"Okay. Good. We gotta get out of here."

Just then, an alarm began to ring and we quickly exited the building before anyone could find us, running into the woods behind the hospital until we cleared them, finding the Impala on the other side.

"Well, looks like Tom Cruise was right. Shrinks suck." Dean muttered, holding me to his side.

"I'm sorry." I muttered, tears forming in my eyes.

"Why?"

"I almost killed myself. I couldn't fight it-"

"Tori, it's okay-"

"It's not. I should've been stronger."

"There wasn't anything you could've done. We were all losing it, Tori." Dean said, looking deep into my eyes, keeping his gaze there until I nodded in agreement. "It doesn't matter what the wraith made us feel or think." Dean said, his eyes going between Sam and I. "We're gonna take all this shit that happened, and we're gonna bury it because that's how we keep going. That's how we don't end up like Martin. Now, are you with me?"

"I'm with you." Sam said.

"Yeah." I nodded, wiping the tears off my cheeks with the back of my hands.

"Good. Let's get the hell out of here. I need a drink. Or twelve."

* * *

 **MOTEL – NIGHT**

The bandages were still wrapped tightly around my wrists, but after a few drinks, I nearly forgot about them. I felt relieved, sure that after hours of silence, that voice I heard what because of the wraith and for no other reason. After a while at the bar, we went to a motel for the night to get some sleep. I snuggled into Dean's chest, focusing on the sound of his breathing to lull me to sleep.

And just as I shut my eyes, a laugh echoed through my head.

" _Guess what? I'm still here, Vicki_."

* * *

 **Ruh-roh :S  
**

 **January 29** **th** **will make two years that I've been on here! :O**

 **Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought in a review or PM!**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction **


	13. Swap Meat

_They're gonna clean up your looks  
With all the lies in the books  
To make a citizen out of you  
Because they sleep with a gun  
And keep an eye on you, son  
So they can watch all the things you do  
Because the drugs never work  
They're gonna give you a smirk  
'Cause they got methods of keeping you clean  
They're gonna rip up your heads,  
Your aspirations to shreds  
Another cog in the murder machine_

… _._

 _The boys and girls in the clique  
The awful names that they stick  
You're never gonna fit in much, kid  
But if you're troubled and hurt  
What you got under your shirt  
Will make them pay for the things that they did_

 _..._

 _They said all teenagers scare the living shit out of me_  
 _They could care less as long as someone'll bleed_  
 _So darken your clothes or strike a violent pose_  
 _Maybe they'll leave you alone, but not me_

 ** _My Chemical Romance – Teenagers_**

* * *

In the days that passed, small whispers filtering through my brain here and there, breaking past the ringing. I still hadn't said anything to Sam or Dean, trying my hardest to ignore the voice, whatever it was. There was a sinking feeling inside me, one that told me exactly who it was, but I tried to push it aside, my fear taking over.

This morning an old friend of the family called, saying she needed help. With nothing else to do and no lead on how to stop the end of the world, we headed to Housatonic, Massachusetts, pulling up in front of a white, two-story house in the middle of a gated neighborhood.

"Dean, Tori and Sammy Winchester." The dark-haired woman smiled at us as she answered the door.

"Hi Donna." I smiled back as she moved aside, allowing the three of us to enter.

"Have a seat." Donna said, gesturing to the couch across from the one where her teenaged daughter, Katie, sat, glancing up at us, a small amount of fear in her eyes. Donna made her way into the kitchen, bringing out a pitcher of lemonade and a plate of cookies, placing the items on the coffee table in front of us, sitting beside her daughter. "So, how long has it been?"

"The summer before eighth grade." Sam replied.

"I remember. You assigned yourself your own reading list."

"That's right." Dean chuckled. "I forgot about that."

"Your mom happens to be the best babysitter we ever had." Sam told the young girl, who looked up at her mom in question.

"When I was a maid at the Mayflower, out on the interstate – long before you were even an idea – their daddy used to pass through town and leave the kids with me while he went off to...work. Despite you two and your complaining." Donna muttered to Dean and I, who always disagree with John's decision to have Donna watch us. We were fourteen and sixteen and could take care of ourselves. That's what we thought, anyway."One time, he was gone for two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Katie asked.

"Oh, he'd always come limping back. He loved you kids."

"Did you know what he did all that time?"

"Little Sammy kept trying to tell me. Of course, I didn't believe him. Not at first, anyway."

"Katie, our dad, happened to be an expert at getting rid of ghosts." Sam said. "And now, so are we."

"That's why I called them, sweetie. They can help us."

"Sounds like you guys got yourself a poltergeist." Dean said.

"Started a month or two after we moved in." Donna's husband said, walking down the stairs with two suitcases in his hands.

"Yeah, first it was just bumps and knocks and scratches on the walls. And then it started breaking things." Donna said.

"And then it attacked Katie?" I asked.

"That was two nights ago. Can you show them, honey?"

Katie nodded, standing up, lifting her shirt slightly, revealing words cut into the skin at her side.

" _Murdered Chylde_." Sam read.

"Katie, everything's gonna be fine." I told the worried looking girl. "I promise."

"Why don't you guys take yourselves a little vacation, and we'll take care of it." Dean said.

Donna sighed in relief. "Thank you."

* * *

 **DINER – DAY**

Once we made sure Donna and her family was safely out of the house, we made our way to the local diner to get something to eat and figure out a game plan for how to get rid of the poltergeist. I stood at the counter, waiting for the food while the boys went to get a booth near the window.

A dark-haired teenage boy pushed the tray of food over towards me, his voice shaking slightly as he spoke. "Cheese burger with a side of curly fries, bacon burger turbo, large chilli-cheese fry, uh, and a Health Quake Salad shake?"

"Yeah, thanks." I smiled, taking the tray. The boy looked down, the tips of his ears turning red. I headed over to the booth, placing it down on the table before sliding in next to Dean, who took his burger and fries. Sam added some dressing to his salad before closing the lid, shaking it thoroughly.

Dean looked at the container with disgust. "Oh, you shake it up, baby."

"Why do you always have to rag on me for being healthy?" Sam asked with a huff.

"Why do you always have to eat like a freaking rabbit?"

"Maybe because I don't want my arteries to clog."

"Whatever." Dean mumbled, taking a large bite of his burger. I grinned at them, popping another fry into my mouth. "So, poltergeist aside, Donna looked pretty good, don't you think?"

"Don't tell me you've still got the hots for her." I muttered, rolling my eyes. "Dean, it didn't work out last time, it's certainly not gonna work out now."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember the one time you hit on her and she completely shut you down?"

Dean looked away for a moment, obviously remembering, but trying to play it off. "...no."

"Her exact words, _you're cute Dean, but it's not gonna happen._ " I said, raising an eyebrow at him, amusement in my eyes.

"Why don't you just eat your food?" Dean asked, playfully glaring at me. I smiled at him, taking lifting the burger to my lips, taking a small bite. "I'm just saying that Donna, she- she's- she's doing good. You know, with her husband, her kid. This whole _Amityville_ thing being thrown at them, and they're hanging tough."

"Yeah. That's true."

"So, uh..." Dean trailed off slightly, glancing over at Sam. "You ever think that you'd want something like that? Wife, rugrats, the whole nine?"

"No." Sam shook his head. "Not really my thing anymore."

I let out a heavy breath, knowing how much of a change that was for Sam. Even as kids, I could see him growing up, having a wife and kids. It was hard to imagine he didn't want that anymore.

"Right. What do you got?

"Well, that house of theirs, it's old. Really old. Hundreds of years. And I found a legend. It's unconfirmed, but still. Supposedly, in the 1720s, the house was owned by a guy named Isaiah Pickett. Legend has it he hung a woman in his backyard for witchcraft, a woman named Maggie Briggs."

"Okay, so an angry ghost witch?"

"If it's true."

"That still doesn't explain what _Murdered Chylde_ means." I pointed out.

"No. Or where the bitch is buried." Dean added.

"I mean, it's a long way back, but I can see if I can find something in the town records." Sam said.

"It's worth a shot."

"Gary! Fries are up!" A man yelled, calling my attention towards the kitchen where the boy stood, staring over at us. His eye's widened as he jumped, rushing into the other room.

* * *

Later on, it was getting dark as we headed back to the motel. Sam went his own way, going to the local library to try and find some more stuff on Maggie Briggs. Dean sat at the table, cleaning a few of our guns, his phone lying in front of him, Sam's voice echoing through the room.

" _Can't even find proof a woman named Maggie Briggs existed, much less where she was planted._ "

"Alright." Dean nodded. "Well, we've got a minute to breathe here, so let's pick it up first thing."

" _Yeah, you bet. See you in a few_." Sam said, hanging up. My foot bounced up and down as I leaned against the headboard, staring blankly at the TV.

" _Vicky? You there?_ " The voice whispered. I shut my eyes, pulling in a few deep breaths, trying my hardest to ignore it. " _Vicky?"_

"Tor?" Dean called, suddenly, standing next to me, making me jump. "Whoa, you okay?"

"Oh, uh, yeah." I nodded, breathing heavily. "Just kind of zoned out there. Sorry. What- whats the matter?"

"What's been going on with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Tori, I know something's wrong. Is it- is it what happened back in Oklahoma?" Dean asked cautiously, sitting down in front of me, placing a hand on my leg, his eyes drifting to the wounds on my wrists that were taking their time healing.

So he thinks that's what this is about? Maybe that's for the best.

" _Or you could tell him what's really going on_." The voice muttered dryly.

"It really- it just really shook me." I mumbled.

" _Liar, liar pants on fire._ "

"It was just...scary."

Dean nodded, taking my hand in his, running a thumb over the healing cuts before leaning in, placing a kiss on my lips, resting his forehead against mine as he pulled back slightly. "You know, Sam did say he'd be back in a few..."

I smiled, the whispers fading away as I looked into his green eyes. "He did."

"I think that's just enough time for us to...have a little fun."

"I think so." I murmured, pressing my lips against his once more before he leaned back, standing up. "Where are you going?"

"We could use a nice hot bath." Dean muttered suggestively.

"I couldn't agree more."

Dean winked at me, taking my hand to pull me off the bed. I followed him into the bathroom, pulling in a deep breath when he turned away, turning the water on. Thankfully the voice had, for whatever reason, stopped. The fear that I was really beginning to lose my mind kept falling over me, but I always pushed it away.

Especially now. I had to focus on Dean. On being with him, and nothing else.

I leaned against the counter as Dean scattered some soap in the water, making it bubble. He turned around, pulling me flush against his body, placing a loving kiss on my lips, running his hands down to the edge of my shirt. I moved back slightly, allowing him to pull it off.

It didn't take long before we were both completely nude and in the water, my back pressed against Dean's chest as he placed a few kisses on my neck, trailing down my shoulder. I rested my head on his shoulder, smiling up at him.

"I love you." I murmured.

"I know." Dean replied, tilting my head back slightly so he could kiss my lips. I felt his hand trail down my stomach, moving my legs apart so he could slip his hand between them. I let out a low moan at the contact, shutting my eyes as I let my head lull back to the side.

Before I knew it, the pressure in my stomach released in a moment of pure bliss. As I came down, I really began to realize how hard Dean had become. Thankful for a roomy bathtub, I turned around, getting on my knees, leaning in to kiss him as I gripped his length. Dean let out a breath of air, throwing his head back slightly as I moved my hand up and down.

I felt myself become aroused all over again as I watched him, and couldn't take it anymore, wanting to feel him inside me. I placed my hands on his shoulders and Dean got the message, guiding himself inside of me as I wrapped my legs around his hips.

Dean placed his hands on the small of my back as I began to move back and forth, biting my lip, the feeling of him filling me almost too much to handle. I felt his heartbeat pulse through where our bodies were connected, my own heart racing as I moved faster, moaning loudly.

Moments later, Dean and I both came, both of us throbbing in absolute pleasure, breathing heavily. I smiled at him, wrapping my arms around his neck, placing a loving kiss on his lips.

* * *

After we'd soaped up, rinsed and dried each other off, I wrapped a towel around myself, peaking out into the room, seeing Sam sitting on the edge of the bed with wide eyes.

"Oh, you're back." I muttered, biting my lip, glancing back at Dean, who stayed in the bathroom. "How much did you hear?"

"A lot." Sam replied, not so subtly adjusting himself. My eyes widened and I raised an eyebrow at him as he quickly leaned down to cover himself up. "I picked up some food." He explained quickly, nodding over to the bags on the table. "Cheese burger with curly fries, right? Sorry. Really. I-I just- I lost track of time. I didn't mean to freak you out."

"Okay." I mumbled, heading over to our bags, taking a couple shirts and pairs of shorts for myself and Dean, heading back to the bathroom. "Be right out."

"O- okay."

Shutting the door behind me, I handed Dean his clothes, keeping my voice low. "Something's up with Sam."

"Why? When does he not act like a nerd?"

"Dean. I think he got a boner listening to us have sex."

"What?" Dean asked, looking a little grossed out before shrugging. "Probably wouldn't be the first time."

"Ew. That's gross."

"Hey, sometimes that thing has a mind of it's own." Dean nodded down south as he pulled his pants on. "You're moans are pretty hot."

"It's Sam."

"And Sam's a dude."

"I don't know. Something's weird." I muttered, pulling on my shorts and shirt.

"I'm sure he's fine." Dean said, smirking at me, placing a kiss on my lips. "Let's go eat, you made me work up an appetite."

I nodded, shutting the light off as we headed back out into the room. Sam stood in front of a mirror, flexing his muscles. I looked over at Dean, raising an eyebrow. Dean cleared his throat, startling Sam. "You okay, dude?"

"Yeah." Sam nodded, turning to face us. Dean glanced down at me before pulling one of the containers of food out of the bag, about to sit down. "Oh, you're gonna want to eat that on the road."

"Why?"

"Well, I was getting something out of the trunk and one of the maids saw all the...weapons. Now they're all kind of freaking out."

"You didn't look around you before you opened the arsenal?" I asked.

"It just happened."

I glanced over at Dean, widening my eyes slightly. Dean just shook his head. "Whatever. I got to hit the head, and then we'll take off."

"Alright. I- I'll be outside." Sam said, moving towards the door. I grabbed our stuff, throwing it into a couple duffel bags, throwing one to Dean as he exited the bathroom, the both of us heading outside where Sam was already waiting in the passenger side of the Impala.

"Hey. You ready?" Dean asked, slipping into the driver seat as I got in the back.

"Absolutely. Hey...can I drive?"

"Uh..." Dean glanced back at me for a second before looking to his brother with a nod. "Okay."

Sam exited the car excitably, rushing around to the driver side, getting in, starting the engine as Dean slid into the passenger seat.

"Oh, this is so sweet!" Sam smiled, revving the engine.

"You want to get the lead out, Andretti? Come on."

Suddenly, the Impala lurched backwards, hitting the dumpster. A bunch of full trash bags fell onto the trunk with a clank. My eyes widened as I looked back, seeing a couple scratches on the car. Silently, Dean got out of the car, moving around to survey the damage, running a finger over the scratched paint, looking up at Sam with a glare.

"I am really, really sorry." Sam muttered.

"Shut up." Dean snapped, pushing Sam over to the passenger side again. "You're not driving."

* * *

SPOV

The dark had completely settled over the sky as I woke up on the cold ground, behind a bench in the park, my neck hurting from where I remember a dart being shot into it. I didn't notice anything wrong with me immediately, other than the fact that my phone was gone and I was wearing completely different clothes. Since there was no way for me to get in contact with Dean or Tori right now, I got up and began making my way down the street, heading to the motel. I just hoped I wouldn't walk in on them doing it. I didn't need that right now.

The lights of a police car trailed behind me, I glanced back, seeing the cop pull up next to me, driving slowly as I walked. "Mr. Frankel? Gary Frankel?"

"Who?" I asked.

"Your family's worried sick about you, son."

"My- my family? They called you?"

"Come on, get in before you freeze solid." He said. I nodded, getting into the police cruiser.

Not too long later, the cop pulled up in front of a blue two-story home, getting out, opening the door for me. I looked up at him in confusion. "Thanks, but where are we?"

"You're home, son."

"N-no, officer, I-I'm not staying here."

Suddenly, a man and woman ran out of the house, the woman pulled me out of the car, hugging me tightly. "Gary! Oh, my god! Are you alright?"

"Okay. I'm sorry. W-what's going on here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Lady, who are you?"

"Young man, are you drunk?" The man asked.

"And who are you?"

"Gary, are you drunk?" The woman asked. "Answer your father."

"My father? Look-" I paused, my jaw dropping in shock when I saw the reflection of a teenage boy, instead of my own, in the police cruiser window, panic rising in me. "Who is that?! Who the hell is that?!"

"He's out of his gourd." The man mumbled, shaking his head at me. "Young man, I'm very surprised at you."

"Yeah. Tell me about it."

* * *

After they thanked the officer my _parents_ made me go to _my room_ where I stayed until the run rose. Thankfully there was a phone in here and I quickly dialed Dean's number, getting no answer. I called every single one of his and Tori's phones that I could think of, before dialing the last of Dean's numbers."

"Dean, I've called every phone we got. Where are you, man? This is gonna sound crazy. Really crazy, but, um – I think I'm in the wrong body. I could use a little help here. I-I think I got asthma. Call me back."

Letting out a huff, I hung up, making another call, hearing a man pick up the phone. " _Lucky Star Motel._ "

"Hello, could you please connect me to room one-oh-two?"

" _One-oh-two?_ _Nah, man, those people checked out in the middle of the night_."

"How many people?"

" _Three. One leather jacket, one girl, one Sasquatch. They left._ "

With that, I hung up, looking at _Gary's_ reflection in the mirror, deciding I needed to know more about this kid. I began going through his things, finding an Advanced Placement chemistry book and psychics notes.

 _Smart kid._ I thought to myself, heading to his closet, finding a Darth Vader t-shirt hanging there. _Virgin._ I sighed, looking under the bed, pulling out a box that contained a Busty Asian Beauties magazine. _Frustrated virgin._

Along with the magazine, I found a black dagger wrapped in a black cloth with a pentagram printed on it. Witchcraft?

"You little satanic bastard." I hissed under my breath.

"Gary! Breakfast!" His mother called from downstairs.

"Leave me alone."

"Gary!"

"Alright, I'm coming!" I shouted back, pushing the box back underneath the bed before making my way downstairs to the table where Gary's father was at the head of the table. I sat down across from Gary's sister as his mother placed a plate full of food in front of me.

"So, Gary, I'd like to know what happened last night." His Dad muttered.

"So would I. Believe me."

"I mean, what happened with the plan, buddy?"

"The plan?"

"S.A.T.s, M.I.T. – the plan. You want to be an engineer, you need a full ride. So, tell me, how does getting drunk fit with the plan?"

"Right, yeah." I nodded, rolling my eyes. "Listen, buddy, no offense, but at the moment, I couldn't give a rat's ass about your plan."

"Excuse me?" he asked, looking appalled.

"Uh…huh. Listen, h-have I seemed, uh, moody lately? Withdrawn?" I asked, trying to dial back my anger a bit.

"Wow." Sydney, Gary's sister, muttered.

"Any- any occult fixations?"

"What?" His mother asked, sitting down.

"Let me guess, I'm amazing at Latin."

"You have an ear for languages."

"Any of the neighborhood pets go missing recently?"

"Are you smoking drugs?" His father asked.

"Leonard." She scolded. "He is not smoking drugs."

"Have any of you seen me with a book? It'd be big and old, uh, leather-bound, maybe some strange writing on it. Or-" I paused with a sigh, realizing. "Frankly, I'm probably hiding it."

I grabbed a piece of toast from Gary's mom's plate, taking a bite as she slapped it out of my hand. "Gary no!"

"What?" I asked through the mouthful of bread.

"You're allergic to wheat gluten!"

* * *

After emptying my stomach for what felt like the millionth time, I flushed the toilet, heading out into the hallway where Sydney was waiting. "You've seriously sprung a leak."

"What?"

"If Mom and Dad ever found that creepy old book of yours, you'd be grounded for a decade. And you're bringing it up at breakfast?"

"So there is a book. Sydney, where do I keep it?"

* * *

TPOV

The rest of the night, Sam hadn't gotten any better. If anything, he was acting even more strange than before. But I didn't say anything, figuring I'd talk to him about it later.

"So, uh, where we going, anyway?" Sam asked, glancing over at Dean from the passenger side of the car.

"To work. The case?"

"Oh, right. Yeah. The case. Of course. Where, uh, do you want to start?"

"Well, since you couldn't find where Maggie Briggs was buried, now we have to do an all-day tombstone roll to see if we can dig her up."

"Wait, Maggie Briggs? You mean, the witch Maggie Briggs?"

"Yeah, _Sherlock_."

"Yeah, she's in the basement."

"What? What basement?" I asked.

"Isaiah Pickett's house. There's this legend that he hung her, but he didn't. The real truth is that she was carrying his illegitimate child, and he killed her and then buried her in the basement."

"The murdered child. That would explain the scratches. How do you know all this?"

"Oh, I've done all kinds of research on it...you know, last night."

"Yeah. Nice work, I guess."

* * *

Once at the house, we pulled out our flashlights, making our way into the basement. Sam walked a bit a head of me, stopping in the middle of the room where some willow moss was growing.

"Boo-yah! Master chief is in the house, bizatches!"

"Excuse me?" I asked, looking up at him in surprise.

"Uh-"

"Well, I'll be damned." Dean mumbled. "Willow moss."

"Yeah, right. It's, uh, supposed to grow over witches' graves, right?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "But you already knew that, right?"

"Totally, yeah."

Suddenly, I heard a loud bang, turning around to see that Sam had flown backwards, hitting the wall. I rushed over to him, making sure he was alright. "Sam, are you okay?"

"Yeah." He nodded, definitely staring at my boobs.

I smacked his cheek, narrowing my eyes at him. "What the hell is going on with you?"

"No- nothing. We need to get the hell out of here."

"We still got to burn the body, you idiot." Dean said, flying back to another wall.

"Dean!" I called, also getting thrown backwards, the ghost of a woman appearing before us. Just as she approached, just began to burn, screaming as she turned to ashes.

Once she was gone, my eyes focused on Sam, who was standing over the grave, a can of lighter fluid in his hand, the flames burning before him. "Dude, that was sweet."

* * *

SPOV

The annoyed growl left my lips before I could hold it back, angrily hanging up the phone again. Dean still wasn't answering. Nether was Tori. With a huff, I dialed her number again, getting her voicemail.

"Tori, someone has stolen my body! The guy right next to you is not me! Check your fucking voicemail. Damn it."

"Gary?" A voice called from behind. I turned around, seeing a boy and girl around Gary's age standing there.

"Are you okay?" The girl asked.

"Yeah. I'm Gary...Gary is okay." I muttered.

"So we're referring to ourselves in the third person now?" The guy asked.

"We heard about last night." The girl said. "What happened?"

"Got drunk. No big thing. Look, uh, what's my locker number?"

"Are you still drunk?"

"Yeah, yeah, I see, like, three of you right now. Um, so- so, what's my locker number?"

Thankfully they both had to go to their classes after telling me the locker number, and I headed over there, listening to the dial as I turned it, breaking in quickly. Inside, I found a the large, leather-bound witchcraft book, pulling it out.

Oh, no. This is a very, very bad book.

* * *

I was just about to leave the schoolyard without bumping into anyone when I heard footsteps run up behind me, turning around to see the same boy and girl from before catching up to me.

"Hey, Gary, wait up!" The boy called.

"Where are you going?" The girl asked.

"I got something to do." I told them, not stopping my stride.

"You're skipping class?" He asked. "You?"

"I'm just… not feeling like myself, okay?"

"Well, whatever it is, we can talk it out, bro. Come with us."

"I don't have time. I got to go. I'm sorry." I said, turning away. Just then, I felt the same prick in my neck as before, and everything went dark.

* * *

TPOV

After leaving the house, we headed to a bar. I sat in between Sam and Dean, resting my elbows on the bar as the waitress brought us some more drinks, setting them down with a smile. Sam stared at her for an uncomfortably long amount of time, his eyes raking over her body, something that was very unlike Sam. Very like Dean.

"Would you bring me a cheeseburger with extra bacon? And fry an egg on top of it, would you?" Dean asked, the waitress with a smirk.

"Ooh, that sounds good. Ditto." Sam smiled.

"And for you?" She asked me.

"Uh, nothing, thanks." I said, my stomach beginning to feel uneasy.

"Okay. Be right back with your order."

"You feeling alright?" Dean asked after she walked away.

"What is going on with you, Sam?" I asked, ignoring Dean's question. I was tired of trying to ignore the elephant in the room.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"You're acting weird. Not at all like you. I mean, first you listen to Dean and I have sex. Second, you get a boner while listening to us. Then you completely forget how to drive a damn car. You stared at my boobs-"

"You were staring at her boobs?" Dean asked, narrowing his eyes at Sam who shrunk back slightly.

"Well, uh-" Sam scrambled.

"You ordered a bacon cheeseburger covered in saturated fats and grease."

"I- I eat them sometimes, don't I?"

"I can't remember the last time that happened."

"We are celebrating…right?"

"Celebrating what?"

"A really awesome day."

" _A really awesome day_?" Dean asked, beginning to look a little suspicious. I rolled my eyes. _Finally, Jesus Christ._

"Yeah. Why not?"

"It was a random, D-list ghost hunt."

"I can't be in a good mood?

"No, actually. It's not really your style, Sam."

"Well, then, it's a new me. I mean, come on. Why shouldn't I be happy? I've got a gun, I'm getting drunk, and I look like this." He said, pointing to his own face. "I don't know. You ever feel like your whole future is being decided for you?"

I let out sigh, sharing a look with Dean as he nodded. "Yeah, Sam. I feel like that a lot."

"No matter how much you fight it, you can't stop the plan. The stupid, stupid plan. So, I don't know. I guess it's, uh, it's just nice to do a little ass-kicking for a change, that's all. Uh, you know what? I- I'm drunk. Sorry. Just- just forget it." Sam said.

"Yeah, please." I mumbled, seeing an older woman with long blonde hair walk up, sitting on Sam's other side.

"I'm Crystal." The woman smiled. "What's your name?"

"Hi, Crystal. I'm G-" He stopped, glancing back to see that Dean and I were still there. "Sam. I'm Sam."

"Well, Sam, I don't want to embarrass you, but you are just- you are just a stunning-looking man."

"I know, right?" He gushed, pushing his hair behind his ears. My eyes widened as I looked back to Dean, seeing a similar look of confusion on his face.

"So Sam, are you having a good time tonight?"

"Thank you for asking, Crystal – this is like the best night ever."

"Do you think we could make it any better?"

"Probably. I don't know!"

"I mean, do you want to get out of here?" She asked suggestively.

"Well, I kind of like this bar. And I just ordered this drink." Sam muttered, taking a sip of the drink. Dean watched in horror, looking as though he was psychically fighting the urge to hit his brother.

"I mean, do you want to get out of here with me?"

Sam looked around, leaning in, lowering his voice. "Are we talking about sex?"

"Well, I, uh- yeah. I suppose we are."

"Crystal." He inhaled sharply. "I would love to have _the sex_ with you."

"Great. Then let's go." She smiled, getting up, walking towards the door.

Sam got up, leaning back towards Dean and I with a giddy smile. "We're gonna do it!"

Both Dean and I stared after him in confusion, waiting until he left before turning back around.

" _The_ sex?" I asked, looking up to Dean, raising an eyebrow. " _The_? Oh, but he's fine, right?"

"Okay, maybe something's wrong."

* * *

SPOV

My eyes fluttered open and I looked around, seeing that I sitting on a coffee table, my hands tied behind my back. The kid from before stood across the room, pulling out his phone.

"Hey! What the hell is going on here!?" I shouted.

"You can scream all you want. No one can hear you. My parents are out of town." He said, holding the phone up to his ear. "Gary, where are you?" He asked, waiting for Gary to respond after every question asked. "Well, where's Victoria? Where's Dean? You mean you haven't killed him yet?"

My stomach sank and I began struggling against my restraints. "What? Wait, w- what do you mean, kill Dean?"

"Look, Gary, we got problems here. For one, I'm looking at your body right now – with this other dude in it. He's been in your house. He's hanging out with your parents. Would you just hurry up and kill the son of a bitch already, would you?" He asked, listening to Gary. "Yeah, you better."

"Everything okay, Trevor?" The girl asked after Trevor hung up.

"I don't think he's gonna do it."

"Just relax, this is Gary we're talking about."

"What the hell is going on here?" I asked. "How do you know who my family is?"

"Everybody knows your family." He said. "Tori and Dean, they're hell's most wanted."

"Oh, no. No. Have you idiots been talking to demons?"

"Oh, right. We're the idiots."

"You're just kids. You have no idea what you're messing with."

"Well, we know that there's a price on Dean's head, and we're the ones that are gonna collect."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"About a month ago, we were down here-"

The girl started, being interrupted by Trevor. "Nora."

"We're not allowed to talk about him?" She asked, looking back to me. "We were down here, goofing around with that book."

"Um, I wouldn't exactly call praying to our dark overlord _goofing around_."

"Don't be a loser, Trev."

"Yeah, Trev." I snapped.

"Anyway, all of a sudden, the lights flickered and Gary went into this weird trance. He closed his eyes, picked up a pencil, and drew this." She said, holding out a picture of Dean.

"And you know what's really weird? Gary can't draw." Trevor finished.

"He said he heard a voice in his head. The demons were putting out a bounty on this guy."

"A bounty?" I asked.

"Yeah, like, every witch or Satanist across the whole country. But Gary- Gary's the one who spotted you."

"And the _Freaky Friday_ crap?"

"Another spell from the book. Gary's idea. Go in Trojan horse-style. He's really smart."

"That is, if he has the beanbags to go through with it." Trevor finished.

"Listen to me. You are making a terrible mistake. We're talking about a demon deal – killing somebody. This isn't a game. You're crossing a line you won't come back from." I said. "Believe me."

Nora looked at Trevor in alarm, to which he rolled his eyes. "Nora, don't tell me you're actually listening to this jerk."

"I don't know." She muttered. "M-maybe. I-I mean, what if he has a point?"

"I don't believe this. First Gary, now you. I can't – you know what? Fine. You want something done right..."

"What, you're gonna- you're gonna go kill Dean yourself, tough guy?"

"Don't have to. I can do this." He said, holding up the witchcraft book, flipping to one of the pages.

"N-no, no. Y-you can't be serious."

"I'm calling up one of these bad boys, turning these punks over, and getting paid. Dolla, dolla bills, y'all!"

"I-I really don't think that that's a good idea."

"It's not." I interjected. "It's a very, very bad idea."

"No one asked you." Trevor said, beginning to set up the ingredients to summon the demon.

"Don't do this. I'm begging you."

"Trevor, I think he's right." Nora said, her voice beginning to shake.

"Hey, you want to get into Vassar, don't you?"

"Please! Stop!" I exclaimed as Trevor began the spell. "You're gonna get us all killed!"

" _Ad ligandum eos pariter eos coram me_!" He paused, looking around. "Maybe I said it wrong." Suddenly, Nora fell back, slumped to the ground. Trevor quickly went to her side, holding her head up.

"No, don't touch her!" I called.

"Nora, you okay?"

Nora looked up at him, her eyes flashing black. "Oh, yeah. I'm just peachy. So, what'd you call me here for, Skippy? Unless...it's dinnertime?"

"What? I-I- n-no. Uh, we have Dean Winchester. Victoria Anderson, too."

"You do? Where?"

"Trevor, keep your mouth shut." I snapped.

"The Cloverleaf Motel over on Route six."

"Sam?" The demon asked, looking over to me with a laugh. "Is that you in there? Well, aren't you just ninety-eight pounds of nothing."

"The kid is a moron. He doesn't have any idea where they are."

"So, if Sam's in this body, who's in Sam's?"

"A dangerous warlock named Gary." Trevor said.

"You mean to tell me you've got Dean Winchester, Victoria Anderson and Sam Winchester's meat suit? An empty vessel just waiting to be filled. And you're handing them all over to me?"

"Uh, y-yeah. I guess."

"Well, I got to hand it to you. I'm impressed."

"Thanks. Um, so if you don't mind my asking... there's a reward?"

"Sure. My undying gratitude."

"What, are you serious?"

"Be quiet, you idiot!" I exclaimed.

"Consider yourself lucky, kid."

"Um, wait a minute, we worked our asses off here, and, I want my reward!"

"Okay. I'm sorry. You're right. What can I get you?"

"Well, h-how about a million bucks?"

"Oh, for God's sake, Trevor, just shut up and run!" I told him.

"A million doesn't buy you much these days. Why not make it ten?" The demon asked.

"Okay, ten mill. And I want- I want Mindy Schwartz to fall in love with me."

"Love, money." The demon chuckled. "Sticking to the basics. I can respect that. But here's my counter." Suddenly, she drove her hand into Trevor's body, blood beginning to pour from his mouth as she let him drop to the floor, licking the blood from her hand. "Yup. Tastes like moron."

* * *

TPOV

When we got back to the motel, Dean and I set up pillows under the sheets, making it look like we were sleeping, before going into the bathroom, making sure to keep quiet. About twenty minutes later, Sam opened the door, stepping inside, walking over to the bed, pulling out a gun. My eyes widened as I watched him about to pull the trigger.

Dean rushed out of the bathroom first, punching Sam hard across the face, sending him flying to the ground. I quickly picked up the gun as it clattered to the ground, aiming it on him. With the gun trained on him, we easily got him tied securely to a chair. I stood in front of him as Dean played the messages from our cell's on the motel room phone.

" _This is gonna sound crazy. Really crazy, but I think- I think I'm in the wrong body.._ " Sam's voice echoed through the room followed by a beep. " _Tori, the guy right next to you is not me!_ " Another beep. " _Check your fucking voicemail. Damn it._ "

"Alright, pal. Either you start talking or I start water boarding." Dean threatened.

"Oh, my God. Please, don't hurt me. Please! I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!" He cried.

"Hey, pull it together, champ."

"I don't want to die. I don't want to die."

"Where is Sam?" I asked.

"In my- my friend's basement. His parents are out of town."

"Parents? How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"Seventeen? Jesus."

Suddenly, nausea filled my stomach and Dean went flying backwards, crashing into a lamp, falling on the ground, not moving. I looked up, seeing a young girl enter the room.

"Nora?" The guy in Sam's body asked.

"Not at the moment." She said, her eyes flashing black. "Boy, you earned your dessert tonight, kiddo. Tell me, what is it you want? Anything."

"Anything?"

"Lay it on me."

"Don't listen to her." I told him.

"I want to be a witch. For real. And really powerful." He said.

"Wow, okay." I mumbled.

"Good choice." She smiled. "I get it. No daddy, no M.I.T. No plan. You get to be big and strong, and no one can tell you what to do anymore. There's just one small formality first. You got to meet the boss."

"The boss?" He asked.

"You know, your Satanic majesty, or whatever the kids are calling it these days."

"The devil? Um, no- no, it's okay. I- I don't really want to bother him."

"Oh, but he's gonna want to meet you. He's just gonna ask you one little question, and all you got to do is say _yes_. And then, you get your reward."

My eyes widened as I realized what was really going on here, clenching my jaw at the demon as she took a step forward. "Take one more step towards either of them and you're done for."

"Oh, yeah? Honey, you just don't understand. We've got you now."

 _I got you now_. The voice's words echoed in my head. I glared the demon down, watching her closely as she circled Sam's body in the chair, pulling out Ruby's knife that was tucked into my jeans. "You don't have me."

"Now, now. You wouldn't use that on poor little Nora here. She's just screaming to be let go." The demon grinned. "Oh, sorry...sore subject, right? Well, how about this." She smiled, grabbing Dean by the throat as he started to wake up, digging her nails into his flesh.

"Don't touch him." I hissed.

"Too late. I have proposition for you. I'll let Dean go, unharmed, if you promise to go with Gary here to meet with Lucifer." Gary, in Sam's body, glanced back at me with wide eyes, looking terrified. I shook my head. Suddenly, she threw out an arm, pushing my back to the wall. "It would be so easy...just to say yes."

"I won't do it." I said. She gritted her teeth at me, tightening her grip around Dean's neck to the point where he started to gasp for air.

Just then, I heard a low voice begin to whisper. " _Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus_ -"

The demon flinched, her grip on Dean's neck loosening as she glared over at the boy in Sam's body. "What was that?"

"Uh, n- nothing." He mumbled. I shot him a look, silently trying to tell him to grow a pair.

"Were you trying exorcize me?! You little piece of shit!" The demon screamed, throwing Dean to the ground, stepping over him as he gasped, moving to grab Sam's throat.

" _Spiritus, omnis satanica potestas._ " I added. " _Omnis incursio infernalis adversii._ "

" _Omnis congregatio._ " Dean continued.

" _Et secta diabolica._ "

" _Ergo, draco maledicte._ "

" _Ecclesiam tuam securi tibi facias libertate servire._ " I said, watching the demon look between the two of us, not knowing what to do.

" _Te rogamus._ " Dean finished, standing up. "Adios, bitch!"

Black smoke poured out of Nora's mouth as she screamed, the demon exiting her, flying through a vent in the wall.

* * *

Gary led us to his friends house, where, sadly, we found him dead. Sam had escaped from the ropes he was bound in, meeting us at the front door in the body of the boy from the diner. Back in the basement, Gary and Sam sat across from each other, with Gary beginning the spell to put them back in their own bodies. Nora sat on the bed, a blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders, still shaking from what she'd been through.

" _Animae domum redeant. Fas atque nefas instauretur. Potestate et auctoritate, sic fiat._ " Gary, still in Sam's body, said dropping a handful of powder into the bowl between him and Sam, causing a light to glare from it.

When the light died down, I saw Sam blink a few times before getting up, looking at himself in the mirror, a smile of relief covering his expression.

"So, we good?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." Sam nodded. "We're good. It's nice to be back."

"Yeah. Awesome."

"So…Gary." I muttered, looking over to him.

"I know. My bad."

" _My bad_? Kid, _my bad_ ain't gonna cut it. See, if you were of voting age, you'd be dead." Dean said. "Because we would kill you. So either you straighten up and fly right or we will kill you. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." Garry nodded, glancing over to me. "Sorry for...you know, staring at you and stuff. And the whole...boner thing."

"What?" Sam asked, looking disturbed.

"Oh, yeah, you got a boner listening to Tori and me _get it on_." Dean teased.

Sam practically turned green, looking as though he was about to puke. "Gross, I did not."

"No, but he did. In your body." I said, nodding to Garry, who began to blush. I almost felt bad for the kid. "It- let's not go there, okay?"

* * *

 **IMPALA – NIGHT**

Dean pulled the Impala up outside of Garry's house, he, Sam, Garry, Nora and I all getting out, standing on the sidewalk in front of the driveway.

"Crap." Garry mumbled.

"Gary, take it from someone who knows, chin up, man. Your life ain't that bad." Sam told him.

"Uh, you met my parents."

"Yeah. So what? It's your life. You don't like their plan for you, tell them to cram it. Rebel a little bit. In a healthy, non-Satanic way, of course. By the way, you know why Nora's into witchcraft?"

"What do you mean?"

"She doesn't like Satan, you moron. She likes you." Sam said, causing both teens to blush furiously, avoiding eye contact with each other immediately.

"I'm telling you, kid...I wish I had your life."

"You do? Thanks."

"Get out of here." Sam said. Garry nodded, shooting a small smile at Nora, one that she returned as the two of them walked up the path to the front door.

"That was a nice thing to say." I said.

"I totally lied. That kid's life sucked ass. All that apple-pie, family shit? It's stressful. Trust me, we didn't miss a damn thing." Sam said, surprising me.

Dean had a similar expression of surprise on his face, glancing over at me, a strange look in his eyes as he let them drift back to the ground. "Or we don't know what we're missing."

* * *

 **I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby. Listen to Iron Maiden, maybe, with me? ;D**

 **This chapter was super fun to write! I hope you guys liked it!**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction**


	14. The Song Remains the Same

_I'm a dead man walking, here  
That's the least of all my fears  
Underneath the water  
It's not Alabama clay  
That gives my trembling hands away  
_… _._

 _Miles and miles in my bare feet  
Still can't lay me down to sleep  
If I die before I wake  
I know the Lord, my soul, won't take  
_… _._

 _Keep walking, running  
Running for miles  
Keep walking and running  
And running for miles_

 _Ain't going back to Barton hollow  
The devil's gonna find me wherever I go  
Won't do me no good, washing in a river  
Can't no preacher man save my soul _

_**The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow**_

* * *

The stars twinkled in the dark night sky above me, my eyes trained on the moon, the only bright light shining down on the dark field I was sitting in the middle of, a few scattered gravestones surrounding me.

A cold wind blew around me, making a chill run down my spine. I felt the presence of someone behind me, turning around to see that there was no one there. My heart started to race, pounding furiously in my chest, something in the pit of my stomach telling me I was in danger.

Loud whispers began running through my mind once again, I shut my eyes, covering my ears as I tucked my head between my knees, breathing heavily.

Suddenly, a bright light shone down on me and I looked up to see that I was now in front of a large warehouse, the sun high up in the sky.

"Tori?" A female voice called. I turned around.

"Anna?"

"Quite the dream you were having there."

"Yeah."

"Do Sam and Dean know you have dreams like that?"

"No."

"Do they know about the voice?" She asked, a strange look in her eyes.

"What do you know about the voice?"

"I heard it. I am in your head."

"Right. And why is that, exactly?"

"I've been in prison."

"Prison?"

"Upstairs. All the torture, twice the self-righteousness."

"How did you get caught?"

"Cas turned me in." She said, to which I raised my eyebrows. "Don't look so shocked. He was always a good little soldier. Did anything under orders."

I furrowed my brow in slight confusion, thinking back to the way Cas helped Dean and I out of Zachariah's lockdown. If he turned her in...maybe he had a good reason for doing so. "Okay. So what do you want?"

"Who says I want something?"

"Angels generally never just drop by to say hey."

"Listen, I don't have long. I broke out. Barely. They're looking for me. If they find me-"

"They'll kill you?"

"I helped you find, Dean, didn't I? Help me."

I thought it over for a minute, nodded. "What do you need?"

"Meet me somewhere. Two-two-five Industrial. And, please. Hurry."

* * *

My eyes snapped open, and I was looking at the ceiling, my breathing heavy. Just as I was about to wake up Dean and Sam, my phone began to ring. I picked it up without reading the name, holding it to my ear.

"Hello?"

" _Victoria?_ " Cas spoke.

"What's the matter?"

" _What just happened?_ "

"What do you mean?"

" _There was an unusual disturbance in your sleep cycle._ "

"An unusual- wait, what?" I asked in confusion, his words setting in. "Cas are you monitoring me or something?"

"... _only sometimes._ "

"Well, just for the record, that's super creepy."

" _What happened, Victoria?_ "

"Anna came to me. Told me to have us meet her somewhere."

" _Are you going to go?_ "

"Should I?"

" _Do you trust her_?"

My gut immediately told me the answer to that. "No. No, I don't."

" _Good. Where did she tell you meet her_?" Castiel asked, his voice suddenly serious.

"Two-two-five Industrial. A warehouse. She said to hurry."

" _Stay where you are._ "

"Okay." I muttered, hanging up the phone.

For some strange reason, in the end of it all, I trusted Cas more the Anna. Much more.

* * *

Later that morning, the boys had finally woken up, allowing me to tell them what happened with Anna.

"But maybe she really needed our help." Sam suggested.

"I don't know. Something about it was just strange." I replied with a shrug.

"Tor, if Cas found her, what if he brought her back to heaven?" Dean asked. "What if they killed her or something?"

"What, you got the hots for her?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "I'm serious Tori."

"So am I. She's an angel. I don't trust her-"

"But you trust Cas."

"Dean, I don't know if you forgot, but he kind of rebelled against heaven just to help us. He's earned more of my trust than Anna."

Dean nodded, looking down. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Plus, if the angels feel like she should be brought back to heaven and imprisoned for what she did, I don't see how that's our problem. We have our own shit to deal with here." I said, the sound of a hard knock on the door startling me. I shared a look with the boys, striding across the room, peering out of the peep-hole to see Cas standing there. Within a second of me opening the door, he pushed his way inside, a mixture of anger, determination and haste on his face.

"Cas, what's wrong?"

"Anna is out for blood." Cas replied, glancing over to Sam. "She plans to try and stop Lucifer from taking you as a vessel…by killing you."

"What?" Dean asked, looking confused.

"That little bitch." I hissed, rage falling over me. Cas moved across the room, beginning to draw a symbol on the table with chalk.

"What are you doing?" "What do we do?"

"Trying to find her location."

"Why?" Dean asked.

"Because when we find her, we can kill her."

"Wait, we're looking for the chick that wants to gank Sam? Why poke the bear?"

"Anna will keep trying. She won't give up until Sam is dead. So we kill her first."

"Sounds good to me." I said, gaining a slightly surprised look from the boys. I glanced up at them, my voice fierce. "If I've said this once, I've said it a million times. I'm tried of people fucking with my family."

Castiel sat down, placing a bowl in the middle of the table, taking a bottle of oil out of his pocket, pouring it into the bowl. " _Zod ah ma ra la ee est la gi ro sa._ " A bright red flame shot up from the bowl and Castiel's head flew back, his breathing shallow as his eyes shut. I waited with baited breath as he slowly re-opened them. "I've found her."

"Where is she?" Dean asked.

"Not where. When. Nineteen seventy-eight."

"What?" Sam asked, standing next to Dean and I. "Why nineteen seventy-eight? I wasn't even born yet."

"You won't be if she kills your parents." Castiel explained, my heart sinking immediately. "Anna can't get to you because of me. So she's going after them."

"Take us back right now." Dean demanded.

"And deliver you right to Anna? I should go alone."

"They're our parents. Cas, we're going."

"It's not that easy. Time travel was difficult even with the powers of heaven at my disposal."

"Which got cut off." Sam muttered.

"So, what, you're like a Delorean without enough plutonium?" Dean asked.

Castiel furrowed his brow, tilting his head to the side slightly. "I don't understand that reference. But I'm telling you, taking this trip, with passengers no less it'll weaken me."

"They're our mom and dad. If we can save them, and not just from Anna... I mean if we can set things right, we have to try."

* * *

A little bit later, Sam and Dean had gone to the trunk to grab some of the supplies Cas had told them we'd need, which were thankfully things we already had, while I stayed back inside, packing up a bag. Cas took the long, slender, silver blade he carried, handing it to me. I looked it over for a moment, a strange feeling filling me as I held the weapon.

"Victoria...there's more to what Anna told me."

"What else could there possibly be?" I asked, glancing up at him, putting the blade in the bag.

"She said that as she entered your dream...she heard a voice. An angel's voice. A strong angel's voice."

I looked away from him piercing blue eyes, keeping mine trained down. "Really?"

"Victoria, have you been hearing a voice? If you have you need to tell me."

"I have." I mumbled, feeling a small amount of weight lift off my chest from admitting this. Tears sprang to my eyes as I looked up to Cas, seeing the worry in his. "So I'm not crazy?"

"Far from it. But you are in danger."

"Please don't tell me- it's not-"

"He's trying to get to you. To damage your mind, to get you to go with him."

"I won't do it." I said, shaking my head. "I won't."

Castiel nodded once. "I know. But-"

His words got cut off at the sound of Sam and Dean entering the room, shutting the door behind them. I could tell Dean noticed the change in the air of the room, but didn't mention anything about it.

After placing some jars of holy oil into the bag, Cas stood in front of the three of us. "Ready?"

"No." I muttered.

Castiel nodded, handing me the bag. I slung it over my shoulder, placing a hand on his arm as he lifted his fingertips to Sam and Dean's foreheads. In the blink of an eye, we were standing in the middle of a sidewalk, the very familiar looking Lawrence, Kansas surrounding us.

"Did we make it?" Sam asked.

"Unless they're bringing _Pintos_ back into production, I- I'd say yes." Dean muttered.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cas collapsed against the nearest car, blood trickling from his nose. I ran over to him with the boys, placing a hand on his chest. "Cas? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm much better than I expected." Cas mumbled, spitting out a chunk of blood before passing out cold. I could still feel his chest rising, so that was some relief to at least know he was still breathing.

* * *

Outside the motel Dean was currently dropping Cas off in, Sam and I went to the phone booth, I waited outside as he flipped through the pages of the phone book inside. Two men passed by, sporting large mustaches.

Sam raised an eyebrow, peering out of the phone booth slightly, shaking his head. "I mean, the mustaches alone..."

"I know." I chuckled, spotting Dean walking over to us. "So?"

"I paid for Cas for five nights up in the, uh, honeymoon suite. I told the manager, _do not disturb no matter what_. You know what he said to me? _Yeah. Don't sweat it. Want to buy some dope?_ "

"Wow." I commented with a laugh while Sam snorted behind me.

"We ought to stick around here, buy some stock in Microsoft."

"Yeah, we might have to if Cas doesn't recover." Sam said.

"Is he okay?" I asked.

"What do I look like, _Dr. Angel, Medicine Woman_?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Ha. ha. Listen, he'll wake up. He's, you know, tough for a little nerdy dude with wings."

"If he landed like that, hopefully, so did Anna." Sam said. "Should buy us some time."

"Did you find them?"

"Yeah. The Winchesters. Four-eight-five Robintree."

"Let's go pop in on the folks."

* * *

 **ROBINTREE ROAD – NIGHT**

The blue car we'd gotten pulled up across the street from a neutral colored house, a black Impala parked on the street in front of it. I couldn't help but smile a little, even though I was getting nervous.

Sam got out of the car, about to make his way across the street when Dean stopped him. "Sam, wait.

"What? Anna could be here any second."

"What exactly are we gonna march up there and tell them?"

"Uh, the truth."

"What, that their sons are back from the future to save them from an angel? Gone Terminator? Come on. Those movies haven't even come out yet."

"Dean's got a point." I agreed. "I mean, John isn't even a hunter now. He's gonna think we're crazy. He won't listen."

"Well, then tell her demons are after them. I mean, she thinks you're hunters, right?"

"Yeah, a couple of hunters who disappeared right when her dad died. She's gonna love us." Dean pulled in a breath, thinking for a moment before beginning to walk towards the house. "Just follow my lead."

Sam and I exchanged a look, walking up the stone path behind Dean, moving over to the door, ringing the bell. A couple moments passed before the door swung open to reveal Mary, who looked at us in complete shock.

"Hi, Mary." Dean smiled.

"You can't be here." Mary said adamantly, beginning to look angry.

"I'm sorry if this is a bad time."

"You don't understand. I'm not- I don't do that anymore. I have a normal life now. You have to go."

"I'm sorry, but this is important, okay?"

A throat was cleared from behind the door just before it swung open wider to show John standing there, looking at us in confusion until his eyes settled on me, a slight tinge of recognition in them.

Mary smiled back up at John. "Sorry, sweetie, they're just-"

"Mary's cousins. Yeah, we couldn't stop through town without swinging by and saying _hey_ now, could we?" Dean asked, holding a hand out for John to shake. "Dean."

"You look familiar." John muttered, shaking his hand.

"Yeah, you do, too, actually. We must have met sometime. Small towns, right? Got to love them."

"I'm John."

"This is Sam." Dean announced, nodding to his brother. Sam just stared, barely even registering the fact that John had shaken his hand, a glazed look of sadness covering his eyes.

"Sam. Mary's father was a Sam." John said before looking to me, shaking my hand. "You're a friend of Liz's, aren't you?"

"Yeah." I nodded, smiling at him, trying to hold back the tears. "Tori."

"Tori, right." John smiled. I don't think I'd ever heard him call me Tori once. It was always _Vic_. John glanced back up at Sam, who had that same look in his eyes. "You okay, pal? You look a little spooked."

"Oh, yeah. Just a...long trip." Sam muttered.

"Well, they were just on their way out." Mary said, not to subtly trying to push us away.

"What?" John asked. "They just got here. Real happy to meet folks from Mary's side. Please come on in for a beer."

"Twist my arm." Dean smiled, walking in when John stepped to the side. Mary angrily shut the door as John led us into the living room.

The boys and I took a seat on the couch while John and Mary sat next to each other on the two armchairs in the room. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sam staring at Mary for a much longer period of time than what would be deemed socially acceptable, causing her to look begin looking very uncomfortable.

"Are you sure you're okay, Sam?" John inquired.

"Oh. Yeah, yeah. Um, I'm just, um- you are so beautiful." He told Mary. John leaned forward, a questioning look in his eyes.

"He means that in a non-weird, family kind of way." I said quickly.

"We haven't seen Mary in- in quite some time, and she's the spitting image of our mom." Dean said, looking like he was getting a little choked up. "I mean, it's- it's-"

"Eerie." Sam finished.

"So, how are you guys related?" John asked.

"You know, distantly." Dean replied.

"Oh. I don't think Liz ever mentioned you being related." John said, looking to me.

"Well, we- she- she probably just didn't think to mention it." I cleared my throat. "Speaking of Liz...how is she doing?"

A sad look crossed both Mary and John's faces, and I had no idea what to make of that reaction. She was still alive, right? She had to be, otherwise I wouldn't be here.

John took Mary's hand when she looked up to me, tears nearly forming in her eyes. "We haven't really heard from her much after...my parents-"

"Oh. I- I'm sorry. That was horrible, what happened." I muttered.

"So, uh, what are you guys doing in town, anyway?" John asked, changing the subject.

"Business." Dean answered. "You know."

"Oh, yeah? What line of work?"

 _Plumbing._ Sam said at same time Dean muttered, _scrap metal_. I rolled my eyes at the boys, looking to John with a small smile. "We do a little bit of everything."

"Look at that, it's almost seven." Mary said, standing up. "I hate to be rude, but I got to get dinner ready."

"Maybe they could stay." John suggested. God, he was so...nice.

"I'm sure they have to leave."

Just then, the phone started to ring and John got up, about to answer it, when he stopped and looked back at us. "Please stay. You know, it would mean a lot to me. I haven't met much of Mary's side of the family."

Mary didn't waste any time, stepping over to us as soon as John left the room. "You have to leave. Now."

Dean shook his head. "Okay, just listen-"

"No, you listen. Last time I saw you, a demon killed my parents. Now you waltz in here like you're family? Whatever you want, no. Leave me alone."

"You and John are in danger." Sam said.

"What are you talking about?"

"Something is coming for you." I told her.

"A demon?"

"Not exactly."

"Well, what, then?"

"An angel." I said, flat out, gaining a look from Dean.

"What? There's no such thing."

"I wish. But they're real and twice as strong as demons. Assholes, too."

"Why would an angel want to kill us?"

"It's a long story, and we'll tell you the whole thing, but right now, you've got to trust us, and we got to go." Dean said. "Look at my face and tell me if I'm lying to you."

Mary took a moment to study his expression before nodding. "Okay. Where do we go?"

"Out of here. We got to move now, though."

"Okay. But what do I tell John?"

"Just tell him-" Dean paused, beginning to walk into the hallway. "John?"

We followed, seeing a small note left by the phone, handwriting scribbled in pen that read _back in fifteen, J._

* * *

 **GARAGE – NIGHT**

Just as we ran up to the garage, I saw John hit Anna in the head with a crowbar through the window, sending her to the ground. Dean made his way inside just as Anna threw John across the room and into the windshield of a car. Mary watched as Sam and I both slit our palms, beginning to draw the angel banishing sigil in our blood.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dean pull out the angel blade, standing behind Anna. She turned shaking her head at him. "What are you doing here?"

"What I have to." Dean replied, about to stab her when she grabbed his wrist and neck.

In an instant, she threw Dean out of one of the windows. Before I could do anything, Mary ran inside, grabbing the angel blade, fighting Anna. John saw this, no doubt noting how skilled a fighter she was as she slashed Anna's hand. Even though Mary was doing everything she could, Anna got the upper-hand, throwing Mary on top of one of the cars. She slid off, hitting the ground. Sam and I moved quickly, making sure to get the sigil done as fast and accurately as possible while Anna advanced towards Mary.

"I'm sorry." Anna said. Suddenly, Mary pulled up a crowbar, thrusting it into Anna's chest, a shocked look covering her features when it didn't do anything. Anna pulled out the bloody piece of metal, letting it drop to the ground with a clank, "Sorry, it's not that easy to kill an angel."

"No." I said, announcing mine and Sam's position in the room, standing upright. "But you can distract them." I lifted my bloody palm, showing it to her just before Sam and I slammed out blood covered hands down on the sigil, sending Anna away in a bright light.

* * *

 **IMPALA – NIGHT**

John sat in the driver seat, with Mary to his right, leaving Dean, Sam and I in the back of the car, me squished in the middle, as he sped down the road. I could tell he was upset, and he had every right to be. Mary had kept a secret from him, a big one. But she did it to protect him.

"Monsters." John mumbled. "Monsters?"

"Yes." Mary replied.

"Monsters are real."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know how-"

"And you fight them? All of you?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah."

"And Liz?" John asked Mary.

"She did, too."

"How long?"

"Pretty much all her life."

"And you?"

"All my life." Mary said. "John, just try to understand-"

Dean began. "She didn't exactly have a choice-"

"Shut up, all of you! Look, not another word, or so help me, I will turn this car around!" John exclaimed, using stern voice I was very much used to hearing from him.

"Wow. Awkward family road trip."

"What?"

"Nothing." Dean mumbled, glancing over at Sam and I with wide eyes.

* * *

 **HOUSE – NIGHT**

This time, Mary led the way inside as we entered an old home, which was extremely run down and ill-maintained. She flipped on one of the light switches as she passed, heading into the living room.

"This place has been in the family for years." She said, flipping up the round carpet in the room. "Devil's trap. Pure iron fixtures, of course. There should be salt and holy water in the pantry, knives, guns."

"All that will do is piss it off." I said.

"So, what will kill it? Or slow it down, at least?"

"Not much."

"Great."

"She said not much, not nothing. We packed." Dean said, placing the duffel bag down on the table, rummaging through it, pulling out a piece of paper will the banishing sigil on it. "If we put this up and she comes close we beam her right off the starship."

"Is that what you did back at the garage?" Mary asked me.

"Yeah."

"From memory?"

"We've been dealing with angels for a little while now."

"This is holy oil. It's kind of like a- like a devil's trap for angels." Sam said, taking a jar of holy oil. "Come on. I'll show you how it works."

Mary glanced up at John before following Sam out of the room. John watched her go before picking up the paper, looking down at it. "Hey, what's the deal with the thing on the paper?"

"It's a sigil." Dean explained. "That means-"

"I don't care what it means. Where does it go?"

"On a wall or a door."

"How big should I make it?"

Dean and I exchanged a glanced before I looked back to him, letting out a breath. "John-"

"What? Y'all might have treated me like a fool, but I am not useless."

"Believe me, I know that." I muttered, watching Dean as he left the room, ready to go draw some sigils around the house.

"I can draw a damn, whatever it is, a sigil."

"Why don't you go help Sam out?" Dean suggested. "Okay? 'Cause this has got to be done in...it's got to be done in human blood."

In an instant John picked up one of the knives, slicing his left palm open. "So, how big?"

"I'll show you." Dean said, laughing under his breath.

"What?"

"All of a sudden, you- you really remind me of my dad."

"Is that a good thing?" John asked me.

"Yeah." I nodded, a small smile on my lips. "Sam and Dean's father, he saved my life and I don't- I don't think I ever thanked him enough for it. For helping me. If it weren't for him, I- I don't know where I'd be right now."

"Sounds like a good man."

"He was."

* * *

A little while later, John had, not surprisingly, picked up very easily on how to draw an angel banishing sigil, and now he was drawing one on the wall in the room adjacent to the one I was. Sam passed by me as I painted my sigil, heading over to John. I moved a bit closer to the doorway, shamelessly listening to their conversation while I drew.

"That's really good." Sam said.

"You come to check on me?" John asked.

"I just- I wanted to say I- I'm sorry about all this. I- I know it's a lot."

"Look, how long have you known about this...hunting stuff?"

"Pretty much forever. My dad raised me in it."

"You're serious? Who the hell does that to a kid?" John asked, nearly causing me to fall over.

"Well, I mean, for the record, Mary's parents did."

"I don't care. You know, what kind of irresponsible bastard lets a child anywhere near- y-you know, you could've been killed!"

"I, uh...came kind of close." Sam laughed awkwardly.

"The number it must've done on your head..." John huffed. "Your father was supposed to protect you."

"He was trying. He died trying. Believe me. I used to be mad at him. I- I mean, I used to- I used to hate the guy. But now I- I- I get it. He was...just doing the best he could. He saved Tori's life, took her in. Took care of her. He was trying to keep it together in- in- in this impossible situation. See...my mom, she was amazing, beautiful, and she was the love of his life. And she got killed. And...I think he would have gone crazy if he didn't do something. Truth is, um, my dad died before I got to tell him that I understand why he did what he did. And I forgive him for what it did to us. I do. And I just, I love him."

With that, a few moments of silence passed before Sam exited the room. I looked over at him, seeing tears in his eyes.

"Are you okay, Shorty?" I asked.

"Yeah." Sam nodded, smiling slightly at the nickname.

"Okay."

Once I was done with the sigil, I headed back towards the front of the house, pausing when I heard Dean and Mary's voices.

"You said you'd explain everything when we had a minute. We have a minute. Why does an angel want me dead?" Mary asked.

"'Cause they're dicks." Dean replied.

"Not good enough. I didn't even know they existed, and now I'm a target?"

"It's complicated."

"Fine. All ears."

"You're just gonna have to trust me, okay?"

"I've been trusting you all day."

"It's kind of hard to believe." Dean paused. "I'm your son."

"What?" Mary asked, sounding shocked.

"I'm your son. Sorry. I don't know how else to say it. We're from the year two thousand and ten. An angel zapped us back here. Not the one that attacked you, friendlier."

"You can't expect me to believe that."

"Our names are Dean and Sam Winchester."

"Then what about Tori?" Mary asked, clearly not believing him.

"Elizabeth Anderson is her mother."

"How do you know her then? Liz and I haven't spoken in years." Mary said, clearly hurt by that fact.

"Believe me, it seems impossible, I know. But it's the truth."

"I don't-"

"Sam and I, we're named after your parents. When I would get sick, you would make me tomato-rice soup, because that's what your mom made you. And instead of a lullaby, you would sing _Hey Jude_ , 'cause that's your favorite Beatles song."

My heart broke at Dean's words, the same strange feeling inside of me whenever he spoke about those things, something about it giving me a strong sense of familiarity.

"I- I don't believe it. No." Mary muttered, her voice becoming thick with emotion.

"I'm sorry, but it's true."

"I raised my kids to be hunters?"

"No. No, you didn't."

"How could I do that to you?"

"You didn't do it. Because you're dead." Dean said outright. Sam stepped into the doorway and I followed along, standing next to him.

"What? What happened?"

"Yellow-eyed demon. He killed you, and John became a hunter to get revenge. He raised us in this life." Dean explained, getting emotional. "Listen to me. A demon comes into Sam's nursery exactly six months after he's born. November second, nineteen eighty-three. Remember that date. And whatever you do, do not go in there. You wake up that morning and you take Sam and you run."

"That's not good enough, Dean." Sam said, announcing his presence. "Wherever she goes, the demon's gonna find her. Find me."

"Well, then what?"

"She can leave Dad. That's what. You got to leave John." Sam told her, stepping into the room. I nearly felt as though I was punched in the gut, the wind almost getting knocked out of me at his words.

That would mean…

"What?" Mary asked.

"When this is all over, walk away, and never look back."

"So we're never born." Dean mumbled. "He's right."

"No-" I called, looking at him with tear-filled eyes, shaking my head slightly.

"You wouldn't ever even know we existed, Tor."

"But-"

"I can't." Mary murmured. "You're saying that you're my children, and now you're saying-"

"You have no other choice. There's a big difference between dying and never being born."

"Listen, you think you can have that normal life that you want so bad, but you can't." Sam said as I stood behind them, frozen in place." I'm sorry. It's all gonna go rotten. You are gonna die, and your children will be cursed."

"There- there has to be a way."

"No. This is the way. Leave John."

"I can't."

"This is bigger than us. There are so many more lives at stake-"

"You don't understand. _I can't._ " Mary paused. "It's too late. I'm- I'm pregnant."

Maybe it was selfish and horrible of me, but the moment those words left her lips, I felt relief wash over me, but also a little bit of fear. It was slowly starting to set in more and more that no matter what any of us tried to do, we just couldn't get away from our future.

"Hey, we got a problem." John said, entering the room. "Those blood things, the sigils, they're gone."

"Gone as in…?" Sam asked.

"I drew one on the back of the door. I turned around. And when I looked back again, it was a smudge."

Mary bent down, placing her hand where the ring of holy oil had been, looking up at us. "There's no more holy oil."

Suddenly, a high-pitched ring sounded through the air. We all covered our ears, the volume of it making me feel like my head was about to explode. The windows and light bulbs around us began to shatter, sending glass flying everywhere. The front door flew open, the sound of angel wings flapping as a man entered the room.

Dean furrowed his brow at the angel. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Uriel." He replied.

"Oh, come on." Dean huffed. I glanced behind me, seeing Anna blocking our only other exit, sharing a look with Dean, who shrugged. "Here goes nothing."

As Dean went to attack Uriel, Sam went for Anna, but both angels quickly threw the boys in the opposite directions. John went for the knife that Sam had dropped, but she blocked it, throwing him through the wall and into the backyard.

"John!" Mary shouted, about to rush to his side when Uriel knocked her back.

When Anna turned towards the knife, I grabbed her arm, spinning her around, punching her as hard in the face as I possible could. She stumbled only slightly before knocking me to the ground, and in one swift motion, turned and ripped a light fixture from the wall, stabbing Sam in the stomach.

"No!" I screamed.

"Sammy!" Dean called, his eyes wide when he turned and saw his brother slumped on the ground, bleeding out. "Sam!"

My ears began to ring loudly, sending shock waves down my spine. I looked over to see John standing in the room, his voice deeper. "Anna."

"Michael." She muttered, watching with wide eyes as he placed a hand on her shoulder. She burst into flames screaming.

Michael turned to Uriel, who held his hands up in surrender. "Michael. I didn't know."

"Goodbye, Uriel." He said, snapping his fingers, causing the angel to disappear.

"What did you do to John?" Mary asked.

"John is fine."

"Who- what are you?" Mary breathed.

Michael shushed her, placing a finger on her forehead. She fell to the ground, unconscious. Michael then turned, training his eyes on Dean. "Well, I'd say this conversation is long overdue, wouldn't you?"

"Fix him." Dean said, pointing to his brother.

"First...we talk. Then I fix your darling little Sammy."

"How'd you get in my dad, anyway?"

"I told him I could save his wife, and he said yes."

"I guess they oversold me being your one and only vessel."

"You're my true vessel but not my only one."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's a bloodline."

"A bloodline?"

"Stretching back to Cain and Abel. It's in your blood, your father's blood, your family's blood."

"Awesome. Six degrees of Heaven Bacon. What do you want with me?"

"You really don't know the answer to that?"

"Well, you know I ain't gonna say yes, so why are you here? What do you want with me?"

"I just want you to understand what you and I have to do."

"Oh, I get it. You got beef with your brother. Well, get some therapy, pal. Don't take it out on my planet!"

"You're wrong. Lucifer defied our father, and he betrayed me." Michael said, looking to me. "And Camael. But still...I don't want this any more than either of you would want to kill Sam. You know, my brother, I practically raised him. I took care of him in a way most people could never understand, and I still love him. But I am going to kill him because it is right and I have to."

"Because God says so?" I asked, standing to my feet.

Michael stared at me for a long moment, a strange look in his eyes. "Lucifer has already broken through. I can see it. A weakened part in your mind. You hear him, don't you?"

I didn't say a word, the look on my face enough of a conformation. I tried to ignore Dean's shocked face that I could see out of the corner of my eye, keeping my gaze trained on Michael.

"Listen to me. You cannot let him get to you more than he has. You can't let him use you."

"But I'm supposed to let you use me?"

"Look at you. So much like Camael. And Camael did what was right. He did what he needed to even though he loved his brother. And you will do the same."

"I won't hurt Sam."

"Think of a million random acts of chance that let John and Mary be born, to meet, to fall in love, to have the two of you." Michael said to Dean, gesturing to Sam, then looking to me. "Think of the astronomically impossible situation in which angel falls in love with a human. And that human bares a child. That child grows up completely unharmed despite all the dangers around her. And that woman has you nearly just before her death."

My mother died after having me? Did she die because of me?

"Think of the million random choices that you make, and yet how each and every one of them brings you closer to your destiny. Do you know why that is? Because it's not random. It's not chance. It's a plan that is playing itself out perfectly. Free will's an illusion. And that's why you're going to say yes. Buck up. It could be worse." He said, looking to Dean. "You know, unlike my brothers, I won't leave you a drooling mess when I'm done wearing you."

"Well, what about my Dad?" Dean asked.

"Better than new. In fact, I'm gonna do your mom and your dad a favor."

"What?"

"Scrub their minds. They won't remember me or you."

"You can't do that."

"I'm just giving your mother what she wants. She can go back to her husband, her family-"

"She's gonna walk right into that nursery!"

"Obviously. And you always knew that was going to play out one way or another. You tried to get Mary to leave John so you would never be born, but that cannot happen. Because if she did that-" He paused, looking over to me once again. "You wouldn't have merely grown up not knowing the Winchesters. Nor would you have gotten possessed and not saved. You would have died as a child."

"What?" I asked, tears forming in my eyes. I was so confused, I didn't understand any of this. What the hell does Mary staying with John have to do with me living?

"Dean and Sam must be born. You must live. You can't fight City Hall." Michael finished, walking over to Sam, pressing two fingers to his forehead and Sam vanished from sight. "He's home. Safe and sound. Your turn. I'll see you soon."

In the blink of an eye, we were back at the motel. Neither one of us said a word, even though I could feel Dean's eyes on me constantly, probably wondering if I was hearing Lucifer right this very second.

Thankfully, I wasn't.

But all of the things that Michael had said kept replaying in my mind, I had so many questions, but couldn't find an answer to a single one. There was only one person I could think to ask, but he wasn't here. And I had no clue if I'd ever see him again.

Behind me, I felt a presence, turning to see Cas standing there, wobbling on his feet.

"Cas!" I called, relief spreading through me. I quickly grabbed a hold of him, keeping him from falling. The boys came over, helping me hold him upright.

"We got you." Sam said.

"You son of a bitch. You made it." Dean muttered.

"I did? I'm very surprised." Cas mumbled, collapsing in our arms.

"Whoa." Sam breathed. "You're okay."

"Bed?" Dean asked. Sam nodded, and the three of us carried Cas over to the closest bed, laying him down on it. "Well, I could use that drink now."

"Yeah."

"Yeah, I think I need that." I muttered, taking the glass Dean handed to me.

"Well...this is it." Dean sighed.

"This is what?" I asked.

"Team Free Will. Heaven and hell's _H-bomb_ , one ex-blood junkie, a dropout with six bucks to his name and Mr. Comatose over there. Awesome."

"It's not funny, Dean."

"I'm not laughing."

"They all say we'll say yes." Sam mumbled.

"I know. It's getting annoying." Dean said, taking a drink.

"What if they're right?"

"They're not."

"I mean, why- why would we, any of us? But...I've been weak before."

"Sam."

"Michael got Dad to say yes."

"That was different. Anna was about to kill Mom."

"And what if it came down to Tori, what would you say?" Sam asked, a strong silence falling over us.

We all knew the answer to that, understanding Sam's point clear as day. If push comes to shove, and any of us were threatened, either of us would say yes in a heartbeat if it meant protecting each other. And even though we might try to deny it, it was the truth.

* * *

 **I was so stressed about writing this chapter, you have no idea :P**

 **Next chapter is going to be an original where we may or may not learn more about Elizabeth... ;) ;) ;)**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction **


	15. Fighting for You

_I hear them coming in the night  
I hear them yelling out to get you  
Although my heart is full of light  
It's my duty to protect you  
_… _.._

 _It's better on the other side_  
 _I found a place we can escape to_  
 _I see a future in your eyes_  
 _So come with me and let me save you_  
 _Watch out, baby_  
 _I'll be right here_  
 _Hold on, baby_  
 _Just close your eyes_

… _._

 _It might be dark outside right now  
But tomorrow will the light  
It might be black inside your heart  
But I'll bring the color back inside  
_

 _I'll be your hero, your protector  
I'll be your healer and make you better  
I will always be anything you need  
And I will never stop fighting for you  
I will never stop fighting for you  
I will never stop _

_**Us The Duo – Fighting For You**_

* * *

The entire night was spent with me worrying about Cas, who had not waken up yet. I didn't think it would take an angel this song to recover, and if I was being honest, it was scaring me. I didn't want him to be hurt. Not because of us.

Moonlight shined in through the gap in the curtains covering the lone window. Next to me, Dean sat on the couch, a beer in his hand as he stared across the room. Sam sat across the room at the table, only the sounds of breathing and tapping on a keyboard.

Eventually, Dean brought up all the things Michael had said, something I'd been waiting anxiously for the entire night. Sam's reaction was as I expected, pure shock. And when Dean got to the part of me hearing...that voice, that shock turned into fear, something he tried to hide. Dean was, of course, still upset with me for not saying anything sooner.

I had no excuse. I should have said something, but I was scared. And I still am.

"He's in my head. He had enough power over me to almost make me kill myself." I said, tears forming in my eyes. Dean pulled me to his side, holding me tightly. "What the hell can I do?"

"Fight." Castiel said suddenly, startling me. I looked up, seeing him sitting upright. "Fight him."

"How?"

"You are strong, Victoria."

"Strong enough for this?"

"Yes."

"And how do you know that?" I asked, feeling cynical.

"Because you've been through much in your short life. But you've came through it all. You're just like your mother. She was the strongest human I'd ever known."

"Cas, can I- can I ask you something?"

"Is it about your mother?"

"Yes." I nodded, seeing him look away slightly. "When we went back, Mary said she hadn't spoken to my mother in years."

"That's true."

"Michael said she died after- was I- did she die having me?"

"No. Her death was not your fault, Victoria."

"Cas, please. I need more than that."

Castiel slowly looked back into my eyes. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything." I breathed.

The angel pulled in a deep breath, swallowing hard. "When Camael had called me down to speak to him, I knew immediately something was wrong. I almost couldn't believe what he was asking of me, but I had no other choice than to make him that promise. He was my brother. Days later, after he and Julia disappeared, I came back to earth to watch over your mother."

"That's what he asked you to do?"

"Yes."

"Okay." I nodded, letting out a breath.

"Your mother was...wild as they say in those times. She knew the Campbell's were not her biological parents. And despite the love the showed her, despite her and Mary's closeness, she never felt like she belonged. Knowing I was there watching over her didn't help. After Samuel and Deanna died, and Mary tried to keep in contact with Elizabeth, asking her to come live with her and John. But she couldn't let go of being a hunter, it was all she knew. And while Mary had John, Elizabeth felt that she had nothing else. I was there for her as much as I could be, but she left Kansas and continued to hunt. I followed her, seeing her stumble back into her home many nights, irritated that I was there. But I worried about her. It was my job to do so." Cas paused, a slightly sad look crossing his blue eyes. "And then, after spending a night out with a man, she found she was with child."

* * *

EPOV  
Years ago 

My hand began to shake as I lifted the small stick, my eyes shut tightly. I was afraid to look, to see the conformation of what I already knew. My period hadn't come in over a month. Something wasn't right. I cracked one eye open, peering down at the stick. My breath caught in my throat.

Positive. I was pregnant.

Even though I knew I shouldn't be happy, I couldn't help but have that feeling of joy bubble up in my chest. Suddenly, a ringing began in my ears. I scrunched my nose, looking around to find where the irritating sound was coming from.

"Elizabeth?" A voice asked from behind. In my shock, I nearly chucked the pregnancy test halfway across the room, looking back over my shoulder to see Castiel standing there.

"Jesus, you scared me." I breathed, placing a hand on my chest.

"I'm sorry." Castiel murmured, his eyes drifting to the stick that now laid on the ground. "What is that?"

"I'm pregnant."

"What?" He asked. I nodded, subconsciously placing a hand on my stomach.

That same look crossed Castiel's face, the one that told me he didn't approve. I rolled my eyes, taking a small step towards him. "Don't look at me like that, Castiel."

"What will you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you going to...have the baby?"

I narrowed my eyes at him slightly, shaking my head. "What? That's a stupid question, of course I am."

"Elizabeth, you do realize your life isn't fitting for a child. I watched you grow up in this, remember."

"I know that Castiel." I said, my attitude getting the best of me. I knew he was only saying this because he cared, it wasn't his fault he had no communication skills whatsoever. "I always told myself that I wouldn't have kids. But the fact that I'm pregnant now, well, maybe this is the push that I needed. Mary got out. Maybe it's time I did, too."

I wasn't stupid, I knew the challenges of having a child living like I was. I had nothing. Being a single mother wouldn't be easy, but I would make it work, one way or another, I would.

* * *

The town I found myself in was small and filled with plenty of nice people. Time passed by quickly I was now nearly six months pregnant. I'd gotten a job at one of the local diners, working to pay for the apartment I was renting. My nerves still got the best of me sometimes, and I wondered how I would support both myself and a child when the time came, but I tried to stomp those thoughts down and went back to working as hard as my body would let me.

Watching the news most days was difficult as well. It killed me to not do anything when I saw a death or injury that was clearly a situation I would normally take care of, but it wasn't just me anymore. I had to take care of her.

 _Her._ I smiled to myself, remembering the day that Castiel had blurted out _her._ I had wanted it to be a surprise, but I couldn't be angry with him, he didn't know. I was having a baby girl. Knowing that seemed to completely brighten up the cloud of darkness surrounding me at anytime I thought about it.

As the months passed, when things began to get more stressful, there were a few times that I reached for the phone, wanting to call Mary, but ultimately decided against it. I left her when she needed me the most and I didn't want to bother her by drudging up bad memories. All I could hope was that she had finally gotten out of hunting and was living the life she always wanted.

* * *

 _THREE MONTHS LATER_

The pains in my stomach were excruciating, the doctors had been fluttering around me for what felt like forever. Every-so-often I'd look over to the corner of the room, wishing I saw Castiel standing there. He'd been acting strange since my labor had began, insisting on _checking the hospital_ first. Once he deemed it _safe,_ he let me go, but didn't follow like I thought he would.

After hours and hours of nothing but pain, one final push was all that needed to happen before the world stopped around me, the sound of small cries filling the air.

The doctor smiled up at me. "It's a girl."

Once she was cleaned off, the nurse placed the tiny girl on my chest. I smiled at her, running a finger down her cheek as tears began to stream down mine.

In the time that it took for the nurses to help me get cleaned up and do a secondary check on my girl, I was already missing her, glad to finally have her back in my arms once again. The nurses left, giving me time alone with my daughter. _My daughter._

The very thought of that made my stomach churn, but in the best possible way. I was a mother. I smiled at the little girl, realizing that all of my mistakes, everything I'd ever screwed up, has led me here. Led me to have her.

And even though it was rough, I was thankful. Out of all the bad in my life, she was the light at the end of the tunnel. My little victory.

"Elizabeth?" Castiel's voice echoed quietly through the room.

I looked up, seeing the angel standing at the foot of the bed. "Hi. Where were you?"

"I wasn't sure you wanted me here."

"I would've, yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay." I smiled, not a care in the world as my baby girl snuggled into my arms. "Come here."

"Okay." Castiel muttered, slowly approaching, looking down at her face, cocking his head to the side. "Have you named her?"

"Victoria." I nodded, looking up at the angel. "What do you think of that?"

" _Victorious_."

"No matter what she faces, I know that's what she'll be. I know it in my heart."

A small smile spread across Castiel's lips as he looked down at the little girl. "I think it's excellent."

"Do you want to hold her?"

"Oh, no, no- I don't think-"

"It's okay, Castiel." I smiled, showing him how to hold her. Once I placed her into his arms, Castiel's eyes never left Victoria's as she stared up at him. It was almost as if he had just been told the meaning of life, the way he looked at her.

I couldn't help but feel the same.

My heart swelled with happiness, seeing a connection begin between two of the people I loved most. Victoria began to squirm a little and Castiel was clearly uncomfortable, so I took my baby back, cradling her.

"I think she's getting hungry." I said, reaching to call the nurse to bring in a bottle of formula.

"Alright."

"Are you going to leave?"

"I'm sorry, I have some things to take care of."

"Okay." I sighed, watching him disappear from view.

* * *

TPOV  
Present

My heart beat loudly in my chest as Cas continued his story, I knew Dean was holding my hand, but I felt as though my entire body was going numb.

"I never said anything to Elizabeth. I didn't want to worry her. I wanted to handle it for as long as I possibly could. I could feel something starting in the month leading up to your birth. If any demons came too close, I took care of them. But then the night you were born, it began. Demons started to circle the hospital."

"Why?"

"Even back then they wanted you, Victoria. They wanted to take you. To raise you believe in fighting with Lucifer, so you would have no choice."

"Why didn't she just get rid of me?" I asked, my voice breaking, tears in my eyes. I felt Dean tense up next to me, a hurt look in his eyes as the words left my lips.

A similar look crossed Castiel's eyes as he stared into mine, shaking his head. "No."

"Why not?"

"She couldn't do that, Victoria. She loved you. From the moment she laid eyes on your tiny face, she vowed to not let anyone hurt you. Not ever."

* * *

EPOV  
Years ago 

The day I left the hospital, one of the older nurses volunteered to bring Victoria and I home. I accepted, taken by her kindness. The whole drive she told me that if I ever needed anything to call her, that she would be there for the both of us, having raised two kids by herself, she knew how hard it was.

Once we arrived at my building, I held Tori in her carrier in one hand, taking a bag in the other, while the woman took my other things and we headed upstairs.

"Thank you for you help. It really means a lot." I said, placing Tori down on the floor of my apartment in her carrier.

"It's no problem, really." She smiled.

"Still, is there anything I could do to repay you?"

In an instant, her expression changed, her eyes turning pitch black. "Actually, yes. You could fork over your little love child."

My eyes widened as I realized what was in front of me, a demon. I quickly grabbed Tori's carrier, running to the bedroom, hearing the demon slam into the door just as I shut and locked it. I bent down in front of Tori as she began crying, trying to calm her down before taking the carrier she was in, placing it into the closet.

"It's okay, baby. It's okay." I murmured, shutting the door. I had to keep her safe.

With a deep breath, I moved over to my dresser drawer, pulling out my flask of holy water and headed back over to the bedroom door, unscrewing the cap on the flask. Just as I swung the door open, ready to fling holy water on the demon, I saw Castiel in the room, trusting a blade into the persons chest, red and yellow lights flickering inside of them.

"Castiel, what did you do!?" I asked, rushing to the person's side as they dropped to the ground, checking for a pulse. "She dead."

"Elizabeth, listen to me-"

"There was someone in there-"

"Listen to me!" Castiel raised his voice towards me for the first time, holding the tops of my shoulder tightly. "You are in danger now. More than ever."

"What do you mean?"

"Go get Victoria, we don't have much time."

"You're scaring me. What is going on?"

"I have to get the both of you somewhere safe-"

"Dammit, Castiel, tell me why!"

"Demons are looking for you, looking for Victoria. They want her."

With that, I didn't ask anymore questions, confusion and fear filling me, strong enough to make me feel paralyzed. I made myself move, getting Victoria and taking as many items that would fit into one of my bags while Castiel watched.

Once I was done, Castiel pressed a finger to mine and Victoria's foreheads, and in the blink of an eye, we were in a rundown cabin. Eventually, Victoria had fallen asleep in my arms, which left me sitting at the windowsill of the heavily warded house. There were sigils everywhere, most I didn't recognize at all, followed by the occasional devil's trap and salt line here and there.

Castiel had explained quite a bit, until I stopped him. I didn't want to know all the details as to _why_ the demons wanted my baby. My emotions were completely and totally overloaded. I felt like I was seconds away from a breakdown.

"I'm truly sorry." Castiel muttered.

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner, Castiel?"

"I didn't want you to worry. You were-" The angel paused, glancing down. "You were so happy."

I nodded, seeing the sincerity in his eyes. I couldn't blame him for not wanting to hurt me. I would've done the same thing for someone I cared about. "I just need a few minutes."

"Of course." Castiel nodded, disappearing. Silence lingered in the air for a moment before I looked down at the beautiful little girl in my arms, running a finger down her cheek as she slept.

"I promise you, I will never let anyone hurt you. Never." I murmured fiercely. I let out a slow breath, my hair falling over her like a shield as I began to sing the song that reminded me of the people I loved, the song Mary and I would belt out as we drove down the road.

I needed comfort right now and this was the only way I could think of getting it.

" _Hey Jude, don't let me down. You have found her, now go and get her. Remember to let her into your heart. Then you can start to make it better._ " I stroked her cheek, my voice becoming more quiet. " _Na, na, na, Hey Jude..."_

* * *

I'd nearly lost track of time as the months passed by, Castiel moved us around every month or so to keep the demons at bay as he tried to figure out a way to keep us more permanently safe. Every little cough or sneeze that came out of Victoria scared the life out of me, but Castiel always checked on her, reassuring me that she was healthy, my little ray of sunshine, always smiling and laughing. She had no clue of the chaos around her, and that attitude helped me in more ways than I could ever express.

The older she got, the more demons came for us. And as much as I tried to stop it, it was inevitable for her to not see some of the terrible things beginning to happen around her. We had gotten into somewhat of a routine. If something was happening, I would tell her to shut her eyes. And she did, only opening them after I'd told her it was okay to.

And even if she didn't fully understand, _I_ knew she wasn't experiencing life like a toddler should. I didn't want this for her, jumping around from state to state, never having a place to really call home. Being scared.

No matter how much I didn't want to believe it, I knew things couldn't keep going on like this. What kind of life what this for a little girl? Especially one with so much life. She deserved better.

Today was the day, Castiel was bringing us to another place, somewhere in Kansas, from what I gathered. As we entered the abandoned home, I noticed a break in the salt line in front of one of the doors and before I could alert Castiel to it, three demons rushed out towards us.

Castiel began grappling with one of them while the other grabbed at me. I quickly ducked out of his reach, trying to keep my crying daughter out of harms way. It was only a matter of time before the other demon grabbed me from behind, the first one ripping Victoria out of my arms.

"No!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"Mama!" Victoria cried beginning to kick, struggling against the demons grip.

It was then that I spotted blood tricking down Tori's arm, realizing that the bastard had scratched her. In an instant, I was furious. "Shut your eyes, baby."

Victoria immediately closed her eyes and I threw my head back, hitting the demon behind me square in the nose. As he stumbled, I quickly pulled the angel blade Castiel had given me to defend myself and Tori out of my belt, stabbing the man in the chest.

Just like always, Tori kept her eyes shut. Castiel came up behind the demon that was holding onto Victoria, stabbing him in the back of the neck as I ripped her from his arms. As the body dropped, Castiel looked at me with concerned eyes, seeing the cut on her arm.

"I'll take care of that." He murmured, placing a gentle hand over Victoria's arm, healing her wound instantly.

As Castiel got rid of the bodies and reenforced the warding on the house, I made sure the rest of the place was clear before telling Victoria she could open her eyes once again. I looked into them, seeing fear there and my heart instantly broke into a million pieces.

There was no question left in my mine. I knew what I had to do.

I tucked a piece of her dark blonde hair behind her ear, placing a kiss on the tip of her nose. "I love you."

Victoria smiled, melting my heart. I felt tears spring to my eyes, hugging her tightly to me so she wouldn't see them.

* * *

That night, I waited until Victoria had fallen asleep, thinking about how I was going to do this over and over again. I didn't even know if it would be possible, but I'd be dammed if I wasn't about to try. In my mind, there was no reason that this couldn't happen. I knew I told Castiel, he wouldn't allow it. And that's why I wasn't about to let him know.

Making sure he wasn't in the house anywhere, I collected some things that I'd need before going to the door, opening it to see two demons standing on the steps.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the hand-me-down angel." One of them grinned. "Came to taunt us with all your fancy warding?"

"No. I want to talk."

The demon laughed. "What do you want to talk about sweetie?"

"A deal."

* * *

Once the outside was clear, I scooped Victoria up into my arms, getting my hands on a phone book, easily finding the name I was looking for right away. Once in a cab, I felt a pang of sadness in my chest the closer we got to our destination.

A sleepy Victoria glanced up at me, rubbing her eyes. I smiled at her, trying to hold my tears at bay as I began rubbing her back, trying to get her to fall asleep. I knew exactly how to comfort her.

" _Hey Jude don't make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better. Remember to let her into your heart. Then you can start to make it better. Hey Jude, don't be afraid. You were made to go out and get her. The minute you let her under your skin, then you'll begin to make it better. And anytime you feel the pain. Hey Jude, refrain. Don't carry the world upon your shoulders_..."

The time seemed to fly by way too fast, my heart was breaking into pieces as the cab stopped in front of the two story home. Clutching my sleeping daughter to me, I walked up the stone path, knocking gently on the door.

As she answered, her shocked face was almost enough to cripple me. I felt horrible for doing this, but I knew I could trust them.

"Liz?"

"I'm sorry." I murmured, tears beginning to stream down my face as the familiar dark-haired man stepped up to the door behind his wife, looking alarmed to see me. "I'm so sorry to do this."

"Liz, what's going on?"

"Her name is Victoria." I said, placing my baby into her arms. "Please, take care of her for me. Please."

"Liz, you're scaring me. What's going on?"

"Just promise me you'll take care of her."

"O- of course. I promise. We- we promise."

"Thank you." I smiled, running a hand through Victoria's hair once last time, placing a kiss onto her cheek. I removed the necklace I hadn't taken off since my third birthday, placing it into the pocket on Victoria's shirt. "Let her know that's from me."

With that, I stepped away from the home, leaving the couple standing in their doorway in shock.

"Liz. Elizabeth!" I heard her calling my name as I rushed back to the cab, making sure to not look back as I got inside, knowing if I did, I would run straight back.

Once the cab had driven away, I let the tears begin to flow down my cheeks, but not for too long. I had to be strong, to carry through – to save my baby.

* * *

CPOV

The feeling stirring inside of me was strange, something I'd never felt before. I knew something was wrong, but both Anna and Uriel kept calling my attention, telling me they needed my help. Though I knew I was needed elsewhere.

Nearly a year had passed and I wasn't one bit closer to finding a solution to keeping them safe. But I was determined to. Camael made me promise to keep his daughter safe, and that was exactly what I was going to do. No matter what it would take.

Finishing up my duties as fast as I possibly could, I re-entered the abandoned property where Elizabeth and Victoria had been staying, sensing immediately that something was wrong. Victoria was gone. Just as I turned, Elizabeth entered, stopping short when she saw me.

"What is going on?" I asked, stepping towards her. "Where is Victoria?"

"With family." She replied, leaving me feeling nervous.

"Elizabeth, she needs to be with us to stay safe-"

"She's going to be just fine, Castiel."

Her voice was monotone, very unlike the woman I'd watched grow up. Though it had been for the past year, this- this was different. "Elizabeth, what did you do?"

"I made a deal, Castiel."

"What do you mean?" I asked, fear gripping me.

"The demons, they promised to stay away from Tori if they could take me."

"No."

"It's the only way-"

"I will find another way-"

"Castiel, you've been searching. Victoria can't grow up like that. I want her to be happy, to live a normal life." She said, tears forming in her eyes. "This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but I'm doing it for her."

I shook my head, a pain radiating in my chest. Is this what heartbreak feels like? "Please, don't do this."

Elizabeth took a step closer, smiling up at me. "You have been so amazing to me my whole life, Castiel. You've kept me safe, taken care of me in impossible circumstances. Please, I need you to do the same for Victoria."

"Elizabeth-"

"Please. Castiel, I've already made my decision. Just give me the peace of mind to know that my daughter will have the best guardian angel Heaven has ever created."

"I promise." I nodded, flashbacks of my conversation with Camael filtering through. "I will do everything in my power to keep her safe."

"Thank you." Elizabeth smiled, reaching up, kissing my cheek. "I love you, Castiel." I didn't know what to stay, staring back down at her in silence. Elizabeth glanced down at her watch. "You have to go."

If there was one thing I knew, it was that Elizabeth was strong willed. There was no way for me to change her mind. Not now. All I could do was nod...and make sure to keep my promise.

* * *

EPOV

Once Castiel disappeared from view, I felt the fear begin to set in. This was it. This was really it. The end. Pulling in a deep breath, I took a step outside, the moonlight shining down on the large field in front of the house.

"I'm ready." I called out into the sky.

In an instant, a blonde demon was standing in front of me, a smile on her face. "You sure about this?"

"My daughter will stay safe, right?"

"Yes. I promise, I won't touch her."

"Then, yes." I nodded, the only thing on my mind was keeping Victoria safe. The demon smiled, placing a kiss on my lips, her eyes glowing white.

"Oh, one quick thing." She muttered, grabbing me by the neck, digging her nails into my flesh. "I promised that _I_ wouldn't touch her. Now, that was true. However, I didn't promise that _another_ _demon_ wouldn't."

My eyes widened as they realization set in, panic and fear filling me. "You fucking bitch."

"I know, I know. But see, this is just the way things have to be, honey. You soul doesn't get to replace Victoria's. She still has a job to do, and she's going to do it." The demon smiled, placing a hand on my chest, a white light illuminating from it. "When you get to heaven, tell them Lilith sent you."

* * *

TPOV  
Present

My body froze completely as Castiel finished, glancing up to me with worried eyes at my unmoving state.

"Lilith...killed Tori's Mom?" Sam asked, glancing up at Sam.

"Yes." Castiel nodded.

"Holy shit." Dean breathed.

"There's more-"

Dean shook his head, glancing over to me, seeing that I hadn't even blinked. "No, man. That- that's enough for today."

Everything seemed to pass by me in slow motion, I didn't know what to think, what to feel. All of the information scrambled around in my brain, making it difficult to process. My heart ached, the pain reverberating throughout my entire chest. It was almost if I'd forgotten how to breathe altogether. All of the times I'd wondered about my mother, I never in a million years imagined any of that.

* * *

 **...so...what did ya think...? :S**

 **Thanks to bookwriter123456 for helping with this chapter!**


	16. My Bloody Valentine

**May or may not have had Tori pass out at the end of the last chapter, then realized I didn't like that ending and changed it. So...just forget that ever happened. No passing out.**

 **Also, there's slightly more intense love scene below. Feel free to skip if it makes you as awkward as Cas in a brothel.**

 **Okay…let's go ;)  
**

* * *

 _Come on, baby  
Show me your favorite  
I'm as addicted as the lips to your cigarette  
I'm a lover of the second degree  
My Mona Lisa wasn't looking at me  
To adore you  
All in favor, take a stand and defend thee  
I'm so cold and lonely  
I could be dead  
_… _.._

 _Cleaning my hands of my bloody fingers  
My brain is scattered like the thoughts in my pattern  
I'm a lover of the second degree  
My Mona Lisa wasn't looking at me  
…_

 _I've got a new love  
Fall out from the band  
I've got a new low  
It's alright from the back  
I said, I said  
Well I was thinking of it  
Well, I just thought I'd mention_

 _I know what you want  
But it's not gonna be what you like  
I know what you want  
And it's not gonna be, not gonna be  
I know what you want  
But it's not gonna be what you like  
_

 _ **Dead Sara – Mona Lisa**_

* * *

While I thought I was used to earth shattering news at this point, what Castiel's story proved that to be very, very untrue. And in the hours after he told me what he did, he left and I stayed quiet, not really knowing what to say. Every time I blinked, I saw my mother, thought of what she went through.

Even though he told me it wasn't my fault, I couldn't help but feel some kind of guilt. She sacrificed herself thinking that would keep me safe and demons still came for me.

The next morning, I woke up before Sam and Dean, stepping outside for some fresh air. The wind was cool, blowing my hair around into my face. I pulled in a deep breath of the crisp air, thinking more about what my mother did. How in those last seconds of her life, she probably thought that what she had just done was for nothing.

Realizing that settled into the pit of my stomach like a heavy rock. I couldn't let that be true. What she did wouldn't be for nothing. Not if I kept fighting. And I would. No matter how scared I was, or how tough things got, I wouldn't give up.

She didn't, why should I?

With that, I went back into the room and pulled up my laptop, searching around for a job. After about a half hour of looking, I found something interesting. Dean began to stir, looking over at the empty side of our bed with wide eyes, quickly scanning the room for me, visibly relaxing when he saw me siting at the table.

"Morning." I muttered.

"...morning." Dean mumbled, sitting up. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I found job."

"You found- what are you doing looking for a job?" Dean asked, to which I just shrugged.

Sam began to wake up then, having heard the tail end of the conversation. "A job?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Hastings, Nebraska. This couple came back from a date and starting eating each others faces."

"Like...literally?" Dean asked, cringing.

"Yup. Literally. They ate each other to death. Seems like our kind of thing, doesn't it?"

"Well, yeah." Sam replied sharing a look with Dean before turning back to me. "But don't- I mean are you sure-"

"Somehow, even though her deal didn't work like she though it would, I'm still here. My mom would've wanted me to help people. That's what I'm gonna do. So, what do you say?"

"I say, let's go." Dean said, shooting me a proud look before standing up.

* * *

 **HASTINGS, NEBRASKA - DAY  
Apartment Building**

The three of us, dressed in our suits, sat on the couch across from the female victim, Alice's roommate, Jennifer. She sniffled, holding a tissue in her lap. "There was blood everywhere...and... other stuff...I think Alice was already dead."

"But Russell wasn't?" Sam asked.

"I think he was, mostly, except... he was still sort of...chewing a little." She cringed. "How do two people even do that – eat each other to death?"

"That's a really good question." I mumbled. "Now, Jen, in the last few days, did you notice Alice acting erratically?"

"How do you mean?"

"Did she seem, unusually hostile or aggressive?"

"No way. Alice never drank, never even swore. She was a nice girl. And I'm talking, like, a nice girl. Like she still had her promise ring, if you know what I mean."

"She was a virgin?" Dean asked incredulously.

"No premarital." Jen nodded, seemingly missing mine and Dean's interaction. "I used to wonder how she did it. I mean, you know, _didn't_ do it."

"Yeah, me too." Dean scoffed. I glanced over at him, silently telling him to be quiet.

"It was her first date in months. She was so excited."  
….

The corner pulled Alice out first, lifting the sheet off, revealing the gruesome sight of her face, which was now half gone. The bite marks continued down to her neck, chucks of skin missing. Russell was in a similar state, the both of them having eaten until their stomachs were full.

Sure, I was used to seeing a lot of gross things by now, but if I was being perfectly honest, this made me want to puke.

"Dude, I'm gonna blow chucks." Dean mumbled as we exited the hospital, making our way to the Impala.

"Tell me about it." I mumbled, placing a hand on my stomach. "And no EMF or sulfur in the apartment. Ghost possession and demonic possession are both probably out. What the hell is going on?"

"Well...I mean, we got our feelers out. Not much more we can do tonight." Sam shrugged. "I'm gonna grab a cab back to the motel, go through some files. You two can go ahead and get going."

"Huh?" Dean asked.

"It's Valentine's day."

"Oh, yeah." I mumbled. "I guess it is."

"What, you guys forgot about Valentines day?"

"So?"

"I thought Valentines day was the day that you guys picked...something...either of you wanted to try and then...tested it out?" Sam asked, looking like he was about to barf.

"What makes you think that?"

"You have literally talked about it with me in the room." Sam said, a disgusted look coming into his eyes. "Also there was that one time that you didn't lock the fucking door and I walked in on you guys."

"Oh, I remember that." Dean laughed. "Sammy, that was like one of the least adventurous things we've ever done on Valentines day."

"Please, spare me."

"I guess I'm just not feeling it this year." Dean shrugged, glancing down at me. "You?"

"I don't know." I muttered. So much had gone on over the past few days and if Dean wasn't up for anything, I wasn't going to make him.

"When a dog doesn't eat, that's when you know something's really wrong." Sam said.

"Remarkably patronizing concern duly noted." Dean commented, moving to get into the Impala. "We gonna work or what?"

* * *

 **MOTEL – NIGHT**

After doing some more work, Sam had insisted on getting another room for the night, leaving Dean and I alone. Dean sat across from me at the table, cleaning one of his knives.

I leaned forward slightly, resting my chin in my palm. "You okay?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I think I should be asking you that."

"Oh, yeah?"

"What Cas told you, it was a lot."

"Yeah, it was." I mumbled, pulling in a deep breath. "As much as I'd want to, and as much as it kills me, I can't change it. The amount of times we've tried to change the past has proven that, Dean. The only thing I can do is be strong, like she would've wanted."

"You're already strong."

"I can be stronger."

"I don't know about that, you're pretty damn tough." Dean smiled. I stood up, walking to his side, taking the knife and rag he was cleaning it with out of his hand, laying it on the table before sitting in his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck, looking into his eyes. I noticed that they were a little more dull than normal, immediately wanting nothing more than to bring happiness to them.

"You know, I know Valentines day is usually the day that we make really unconventional love just to be ironic assholes and all...but I don't think it would hurt to break the tradition a little bit." I smiled, seeing the color of his eyes brighten in an instant. I ran my fingers through the short hair at the back of his head. "Unless, of course, you had something in mind. I mean, I do still have that strap-on-"

"No. No, I gotta be in the right frame of mind for that." Dean shook his head, letting out a low chuckle, moving my hair over my shoulder so he could place a kiss on my neck. "I think you're right."

Dean began trailing kisses down my collar bones, playing with the edge of my shirt. I helped him pull it off, gently caressing his cheek as I kissed his lips passionately, his hands sliding down my side. After a few moments of heated kisses, we both stood, making it easier to peal the rest of our clothes off, throwing them into a pile on the floor.

Gently laying me back onto the bed, Dean moved between my legs, placing kisses on the inside of my thighs before moving inward. My head fell back as his tongue made contact with my body, waves of pleasure beginning to flow through me, becoming even stronger as he pushed a finger inside, letting his other hand run across my hip.

My hands gripped the sheet tightly as Dean added more pressure, and before I knew it, I was practically seeing stars. I smiled at him as he kissed up my stomach, and between my breasts until he got to my lips.

"Your turn." I grinned, gently pushing him onto his back, kneeling between his knees as I began to stroke him. I leaned down, gently licking his tip, hearing him let out a sharp breath. I peered up through my eyelashes, seeing his green eyes trained on me.

Dean licked his lips, gathering my hair into one of his hands, making sure to keep my hair back so he could watch as I let my tongue glide along the length of him, from the tip, past the base and back up again. When I got to the tip, I let him slide into my mouth, beginning to slowly bob my head, matching the strokes with my hand, allowing the other to venture a little lower, his moans driving me crazy.

It wasn't long before I felt Dean tugged my hair gently, silently telling me to stop. I looked up at him innocently, pouting a little bit. Dean smiled, breathing heavily as he leaned forward, pulling me in for a kiss, slowly moving us so that I was now on my back, and he was hovering over me. Dean placed kisses down my neck as he slid himself into me, I dug my nails into his shoulders, loving the feeling of him inside of me.

The both of us were right on the edge due to our previous activities, and Dean began pumping faster without me even having to tell him. He already knew exactly what to do, and before I knew it, the both of us came together, moaning loudly. I bit my lip, running my hands down his arms, feeling him empty inside of me, slowing his rhythm as we both came down. Dean kissed my lips lovingly before resting his head in the crook of my neck as I ran my fingers through his hair.

* * *

The next morning, I woke up with my head resting on Dean's chest, listening to his heartbeat as he breathed evenly, still sleeping. I laid there for a few more minutes before sitting up. As I did so, my head spun, my eyes going out of focus slightly. I seemed to be in a fog, but ignored it, going to take a shower to try and clear my head.

By the time I was done, Dean was already awake and dressed. "Morning, beautiful."

"Morning." I smiled, reaching up to place a kiss on his lips. "Where's Sam? I thought he would've been here by now."

"I just called him. He said he wasn't coming within ten feet of this room until we were fully clothed."

"Okay, then." I chuckled.

"Two more people died last night."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Is it bad that I don't want to go? What I saw yesterday will haunt my dreams forever."

"I know." Dean nodded, letting out a sigh.

"But we have to."

"Ready to go?"

"I guess."

* * *

 **ST JAMES MEDICAL CENTER – DAY**

The entire drive over to the hospital, I found myself glancing out of the window nearly every five seconds, tapping my foot on the floorboard of the Impala, drumming my fingers on the top of my knee. For some reason, I felt extremely anxious, but I had no idea why.

Once inside the hospital, the three of us were in the waiting room. Sam seemed a little jumpy this morning as well, looking around. Dean noticed this, shooting his brother a look. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sam replied.

"Agents. You just can't stay away." Dr. Corman said, walking up to us.

"Heard you tagged another double suicide." Dean said.

"Well, I just finished closing them up. I've finished my prelims. I pulled the organ sets and sent off the tox samples."

"Great." Sam nodded. "You mind if we take a look at the bodies?"

"Not at all. But like I said, their _Good-and-plenties_ are already tupperwared."

"Super."

"Leave the keys with Marty up front. And please, refrigerate after opening." Dr. Corman said, dropping the keys into Sam's hand before leaving.

* * *

Inside the morgue, we'd taken some of the organs out of their ice boxes, inspecting them. Dean pulled out one of the hearts, smiling over at me. "Hey. Be my Valentine?"

"I'd love to." I smiled back, pausing for a moment. "God, we're fucked up."

"Hey, wait a second. These hearts both have identical marks. Check this out. It looks like some kind of letter." Sam said, showing us. I looked down at the symbol, something in me knowing right away.

"Oh, no."

"What?" Dean asked.

"I think it's Enochian."

"You mean like angel scratches? So you think it's like the tagging on our ribs?"

"I don't know. But I know who will." I said, pulling out my phone. It rang and rang until it went to the automated voicemail message. I tried again, getting the same result, immediately feeling worried. "Cas isn't answering."

"I'll try." Dean said, taking out his phone. After barely one ring, he answered. "Cas, it's Dean. Yeah, room thirty-one-c, basement level-" Dean paused as Cas appeared right in front of him. "...St. James medical center."

"I'm there now." Cas said, not putting the phone down.

"Yeah, I get that."

"I'm gonna hang up now."

"Right."

"Are you okay, Cas?" I asked, noticing how he wasn't making eye contact with me. "Cas?"

"I'm fine." He replied, quickly changing the subject, looking to the hearts. "These are angelic marks. I imagine you'll find similar marks on the other couples' hearts as well-"

"So, what are they?" Sam asked. "I mean, what do they mean?"

"It's a mark of union. This man and woman were intended to mate."

Dean nodded. "Okay, but who put them there?"

"Well, your people call them _Cupid_. What human myth has mistaken for _Cupid_ is actually a lower order of angel. Technically it's a cherub, third-class."

"Cherub?"

"Yeah, they're all over the world. There are dozens of them."

"You mean the little flying fat kid in diapers?"

Cas furrowed his brow. "They're not incontinent."

"Okay, anyway." Sam started. "So, what you're saying-"

"What I'm saying is a Cupid has gone rogue and we have to stop him before he kills again."

"...naturally."

* * *

 **RESTAURANT – DAY**

After giving us the address for the restaurant where the Cupid liked to _hang out_ , Castiel disappeared again. He was already there when we arrived, still avoiding looking at me as much as he possibly could. The four of us headed into the building, ordering some food after getting seated.

The waitress brought over two burgers, one for Dean and one for myself and a salad for Sam before leaving.

"So, what, you just happen to know he likes the cosmos at this place?" Dean asked, putting ketchup on his burger.

"This place is a nexus of human reproduction. It's exactly the kind of of garden the Cupid will come to- to pollinate."

"That's...weird." I mumbled, running my tongue along my teeth, that same anxious feeling only getting stronger. I noticed that Dean had put his burger back down, looking disinterested. "Are you okay, baby?"

"Oh, uh, yeah." Dean nodded.

"You're not hungry?"

"Not really."

"How?" I asked, looking a little surprised.

"When are you ever not hungry, Dean?" Sam asked.

"Especially after last night. You must have worked up an appetite." I grinned, shooting Dean a look. He just watched me, a small smile on his face. Sam rolled his eyes, spearing a piece of lettuce with his fork, shoving it into his mouth as he looked away. "Come on, Dean, you have to eat."

Dean nodded, taking a bite of his burger, chewing it slowly. Something was wrong, something was bothering him. I just couldn't figure out what.

"He's here." Castiel said, looking towards a couple sitting at one of the booths across the room.

"Where?" I asked, looking in that direction.

"You mean the s _ame-side-of-the-booth_ couple over there?"

"Meet me in the back." Cas said, disappearing.

"Well, that's super subtle." I mumbled, sharing a look with the boys before getting up, heading to the back of the restaurant where Cas was standing, staring across the empty room. "Where is he?"

"I have him tethered. _Zoda kama mahrana_. Manifest yourself."

After a moment of nothing happening, Dean glanced over to the angel. "So, where is he?"

Suddenly, a large, naked man appeared, pulling Dean in for a tight hug. "Here I am!"

"Holy sh- help!"

"Oh, help is on the way. Yes it is." Cupid smiled, dropping Dean, stepping in front of Cas, picking him up, hugging him. "Hello, you!"

"This is Cupid?"

"Yes."

"Hi!" The cupid grinned, grabbing pulling Sam in for a hug before turning to me. "And look at you!"

"Honestly, you don't-" My words were cut off by him picking me up off the ground, bouncing me slightly as he hugged.

"Is this a fight?" Dean asked. "Are we in a fight?"

"This is their handshake." Cas replied as the cupid placed me back on my feet.

"I don't like it."

"No one likes it."

"What can I do for you?" The cupid asked.

"Why are you doing this?" Cas inquired.

"Doing what?"

"Your targets the ones you've marked, they're slaughtering each other."

"What? He asked, looking shocked. "They are?"

"Listen, birthday suit, we know, okay? We know you been flitting around, popping people with your poison arrow, making them murder each other!" Dean accused.

"What we don't know is why." Cas finished.

"You think that I- well, I don't know what to say." The cupid muttered, beginning to wail as he turned away.

"Should- should somebody go talk to him?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Dean nodded, patting Castiel on the shoulder. "Give 'em hell, Cas."

Cas shot him a look before stepping forward. "Look, we didn't mean to, um, hurt your feelings-"

The cupid turned quickly, hugging Cas again. "Love is more than a word to me, you know. I _love_ love. I love it! And if that's wrong, I don't want to be right!"

"Yes, yes. Of course." Castiel mumbled, patting him awkwardly on the back. "I, uh...I have no idea what you're saying."

"I was just on my appointed rounds. Whatever my targets do after that that's nothing to do with me. I- I was following my orders. Please, brother. Read my mind. Read my mind, you'll see."

Cas took a moment, looking into the cupid's eyes before looking back to us. "He's telling the truth."

"Jiminy Christmas. Thank you."

"Wait, wait, you said- you said you were just following orders?" Dean asked. "Whose orders?"

"Whose?" He laughed. "Heaven, silly. Heaven."

"Why does heaven care if _Harry_ meets _Sally_?"

"Oh, mostly they don't. Like your grandfather." The cupid said, looking to me. "The great Camael. The beautiful Julia. To be honest what happened with them is sort of a taboo subject among us cupids."

I shook my head. "Wait, so heaven had nothing to do with them being together?"

"Not at all. Although deep down, Micheal still thinks it was one of the arrows. But their love was beautiful. True and pure. So much passion! And the drama! The star-crossed lovers who-could-never-be! A lot like the two of you." He said, pointing to Dean and I. "Much like Camael and Julia, you were simply born to love each other. Cupids were not involved."

"But then if people can fall in love like that, what do they need you for?" I asked. The cupid looked a bit offended, but continued anyway.

"Well, certain bloodlines, certain destinies, simply need a push in the right direction. Like the union of John and Mary Winchester. Very big deal upstairs, top priority arrangement."

"Are you saying that you fixed-up our parents?" Sam asked.

"Well, not me, but, yeah. It wasn't easy, either. They couldn't stand each other at first. But when we were done with them - perfect couple." The cupid smiled, glancing over to me. "Same goes for Elizabeth Anderson and Thomas Hall."

"Thomas Hall?" I asked.

"Your father."

I glanced up at Cas, seeing him look away immediately. Dean scoffed, shaking his head. "Perfect? They're all dead!"

"Well-"

"What?"

"Listen, I'm sorry, but... the orders were very clear. Victoria needed to be born. You and Sam needed to be born. Things were meant to be. A match made in heaven!"

Suddenly, Dean punched the Cupid in the face and he disappeared from view. "Where is he? Where'd he go!?"

"I believe you upset him." Cas mumbled.

"Upset him!?"

"Dean, relax!" I called.

"Why?"

"You just punched a Cupid."

"I punched a dick!"

"Okay, are we gonna talk about what's been up with you lately or not?" Sam asked.

Dean looked between his brother and I, turning to leave. "Or not."

* * *

After we left the restaurant, Sam got a call from Dr. Corman, telling him that yet another _strange_ suicide had taken place. The longer the anxiety I was feeling stayed with me, more it started to turn to irritation. On our way back to the motel after dropping Sam off at the hospital, I glanced over at Dean, seeing his that his hands were rather tense, gripping tightly to the steering wheel.

"Dean, talk to me." I said.

"About what?"

"About what's going on with you."

"Nothing's going on with me."

"And we both know that's a complete lie."

"Look, Tori-"

"Yeah, you don't want to talk. I get it. You never want to talk." I snapped, suddenly feeling irritated. "Just keep everything bottled up all the time. Stupid Winchesters."

"Whoa, where the hell did that come from?" Dean asked, glancing at me with wide eyes.

"Huh?" I blinked a few times, realizing what I'd said. "Oh, uh, I don't know."

"Are _you_ okay?" Dean inquired, looking over at me as he stopped at a red light.

Something caught my eye and I looked out of the window, seeing a man leaning against the side of a building smoking a cigarette. Immediately, I realized why I was feeling the way I was.

* * *

 **MOTEL – NIGHT**

Not too long after we got back, Sam rushed inside the room, carrying a briefcase. I furrowed my brow, watching as he placed it on the table, turning to face us. "Two things."

Dean nodded. "Alright."

"So, the guy was not marked by Cupid, but his death was definitely suspicious."

"How?"

"He force-fed himself _Twinkies_ until his stomach burst."

"What?" I asked.

"Rammed 'em down his throat with a toilet brush."

"Jesus Christ."

"Well, we just went through the police blotter, and counting him, that's eight suicides since Wednesday and nineteen OD's. That's way out of the seasonal batting average."

"Yeah, if there's a pattern here, it ain't just love. It's a hell of a lot bigger than we thought."

"So, what's the second thing?"

"This briefcase, I got it from a demon."

"A demon?" Dean asked, sputtering on the sip of beer he'd just taken. "Dude, why wasn't the first thing?"

Sam just shrugged. I looked up him in in concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Okay, then. Let's crack her open. What's the worst that could happen, right?" Dean asked, lifting the latches. As soon as he opened the case, a bright light flew out.

"Whoa!"

"What the hell was that?"

"It's a human soul. It's starting to make sense." Cas said, appearing behind us with a burger in his hand, taking a bite from it.

"A soul?" I asked. "What about that makes sense?"

"And when did you start eating?" Dean added.

"Exactly." Cas nodded. "My hunger, it's a clue, actually. This town is not suffering from some love-gone-wrong effect. It's suffering from hunger. Starvation, to be exact. Specifically...famine."

"Famine? As in the horseman?" I asked, a horrible feeling filling me as Cas nodded.

"Great." Dean scoffed. "Th- th- that's freaking great."

"I thought famine meant starvation, like as in, you know, food." Sam said.

"Yes, absolutely. But not just food." Castiel said. "I mean, everyone seems to be starving for something. Sex, attention, drugs, love."

"So that explains the puppy-lovers that Cupid shot up."

"Right." Cas nodded. "The cherub made them crave love, and then Famine came, and made them rabid for it."

"Okay, but what about you? I mean, since when do angels secretly hunger for _White Castle_?"

"It's my vessel, Jimmy. His, uh, appetite for red meat has been touched by Famine's effect."

"So, Famine just rolls into town and everybody goes crazy?"

" _And then will come Famine riding on a black steed. He will ride into the land of plenty and great will be the Horseman's hunger, for he is hunger._

" _His hunger will seep out and poison the air._ " I finished. "Well, it makes sense now."

"What does?" Dean asked.

"This is crazy, but I- I've kind of been wanting a cigarette. Or, you know, twenty."

"What? You haven't smoked since you were like, sixteen."

"Yeah, I know."

"Famine is making you want to light up?"

"I guess."

Dean shook his head, letting out a breath. "Well, don't worry, I'm not letting you anywhere near a cigarette."

"Right." I nodded, wringing my hands together, chewing on my lip. "No, yeah. Don't do that."

"Famine is hungry." Cas said. "He must devour the souls of his victims."

"So, that's what was in the briefcase, the twinkie dude's soul?" Dean asked.

"Lucifer has sent his demons to care for Famine, to feed him, make certain he'll be ready."

"Ready for what?" Sam asked.

"To march across the land."

"So, what, this whole town is just gonna eat, drink, and screw itself to death?"

"We should stop it."

"Yeah, that's a great idea. How?" Dean asked.

"How did you stop the last horseman you met?"

"War got his mojo from this ring. And after we cut it off, he just tucked tail and ran. And everybody that was affected, it was like they woke up out of a dream. You think Famine's got a class ring, too?"

"I know he does."

"Well, okay. Let's track him down and get to chopping."

"Yeah." Cas mumbled, eying the last bite of his burger sadly.

"What are you the, _the Hamburglar_?" Dean asked as I began to bounce my leg up and down, the cravings getting more and more prominent.

My mind was literally screaming at me to go buy a pack. I mean, there was a store right across the road...it'd only take a couple minutes.

 _Stop_. I told myself, pulling in a deep breath.

"I've developed a taste for ground beef." Cas said.

"Well, have to even tried to stop it?"

"I'm an angel. I can stop anytime I want."

"That's what they always say." I mumbled, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Alright." Dean stood up. "Let's roll."

"Dean, I- I can't- I can't go." Sam muttered. It was then that I realized how bad he was beginning to sweat.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you okay, Sam?" I asked.

"I think it got to me. I think I'm hungry for it..."

"For what?" Dean asked.

"You know."

"Demon blood?" I asked, watching Sam hang is head, silently saying yes. My heart dropped and I turned to Cas. "You have to get him out of here. Bring him anywhere but here."

"I- I'm sorry. I can't." Cas replied, again, barely meeting my eyes.

"Why not?"

"It won't work. He's already infected. The hunger is just gonna travel with him."

"Well, then, what do we do?" Dean asked.

"You go cut that bastard's finger off." Sam said. "But before you go, you better- you better lock me down...but good."

Dean and I shared a look as Sam pulled a pair of handcuffs from out of our bags, handing them to Dean. He looked up at his brother, nodding once before finding the best place in the room to chain Sam to, which happened to be the sink pipe in the bathroom. It wasn't budging.

"Alright. Just hang in there." Dean said. "We'll be back as soon as we can."

"Be careful." Sam said, looking up at us with terrified eyes. "And hurry."

"It's gonna be okay, Sam." I told him as Dean, Cas and I pushed a dresser in front of the bathroom door, making sure that there was no way for him to get out of this room.

* * *

 **IMPALA - NIGHT**

After going to the hospital, looking for Dr, Corman, we found out that he had died this morning. Twenty years of sobriety ended with him drinking himself to death. I'd be lying if I said that didn't worry me, however that worry only fueled my need for a cigarette.

"Could you chill with the knee bouncing? You're shaking the entire car." Dean said, glancing over at me from the driver seat.

"Oh, well, excuse me. I'm only having the withdrawal symptoms of lifelong smoker who's only quit for an hour." I snapped, holding my hand up. "Look at how bad I'm shaking."

"Holy shit."

"Yeah, tell me about it. I don't think I'm gonna be much help here, Dean."

"First Sam, now you? I can't do this myself."

"There's only one way I can think of calming down-"

"There's no way in hell I'm laying you touch a cigarette."

"But Dean-"

"No but's, Tori. You worked way too hard to quit to start again. Plus, it's dangerous."

"So is drinking, you don't see me stopping you from downing a fifth of whiskey every night." I said. Dean rolled his eyes, ignoring me. Suddenly, Castiel appeared in the backseat. I glanced back at him, narrowing my eyes. "Wow, so you _can_ just show up?"

"What?" Castiel asked, glancing over to Dean.

"She's in a mood." Dean mumbled.

"I am not." I snapped, glancing back to Cas. "You've been avoiding me, I want to know why."

"Victoria-"

"Castiel."

"I failed your mother. I- I failed you." Cas murmured, his voice quiet. "The night you were possessed, I wasn't there for you."

"Why weren't you there?"

"I was taken back to Heaven...and re-trained, I suppose you could say. I wasn't allowed to help you."

"Oh."

"Because of all that, I would understand your hatred towards me...but I- I'd prefer not to see it."

"What?" I furrowed my brow, my heart dropping. "Cas, I don't hate you."

"You don't?"

"No."

"How?"

"Because you- I know you did everything you could. It's not your fault." I told him honestly. Suddenly, Castiel disappeared from sight, reappearing a moment later with a burger.

"Are you serious?" Dean asked.

"These make me...very happy." Cas said, taking a huge bite.

"You know, Cas usually when you're having that kind of moment with someone you don't just bail to get a burger." I said, glancing back at him, watching him stop mid-chew.

"Oh. I didn't know."

Dean nodded to the burger. "How many is that?"

"I lost count. It's in the low hundreds. What I don't understand is...where is your hunger, Dean?"

"You know, that's a good damn question." I said, looking over to Dean with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Dean asked, looking between the angel and I.

"Well, slowly but surely, everyone in this town is falling prey to Famine, but so far, you seem unaffected." Cas said.

"Hey, when I want to drink, I drink. When I want sex, I have sex-"

I scoffed. "More like you have sex when _I_ want sex."

"Oh, like I can't seduce your pants right off. Please. I could do it right now."

"Oh, I'd love to see you try, Winchester" I challenged angrily.

"No way. You're in a shitty mood, you might bite it off."

"But I don't understand, are you saying that you're well-adjusted?" Cas asked.

"God, no." Dean breathed, glancing over at me, his eyes looking a little softer. "My girl just keeps me well-fed."

"Damn right I do." I smiled, feeling my irritation wash away when I looked into his eyes.

"Look there." Cas called, pointing to a man in a black suit exiting the hospital, carrying a briefcase. He got into a silver car a few rows down, driving off. Immediately, Dean put the Impala in drive, following him.

* * *

SPOV

My head pounded harshly, every little sound, every cricket chirp I heard made me feel like I was being stabbed in the back of the neck. I kept pulling in deep breaths, trying to relax, telling myself that Dean, Tori and Cas would take care of this, and all of these feelings would be gone before I knew it.

The sound of the dresser being moved caught my attention, dread filling my stomach as the door unlocked.

"Guys? Guys, what happened? I don't think it worked. I think I'm still-" I paused as the door opened, being met with two demons instead of my family. "Hungry."

"Look at this. Someone trussed you up for us. Boss says we can't kill you...but I bet we can break off a few pieces." The female demon smiled while the male leaned down, breaking my cuffs.

I quickly knocked him back, sending him crashing into the shower before I lunged at the female demon, bringing her crashing down onto the glass table in the other room. Losing all control, I grabbed shard of glass, stabbing her in the throat with it, staring at the gushing blood for a moment before latching onto the wound, beginning to drink her blood.

The strange, powerful feeling flowed through me as I drank gulp after gulp.

"Get him off!" The woman screamed.

Footsteps sounded behind me and I felt the other demon try and pull me off of her, but I wouldn't budge. The only thing giving was my shirt that ripped. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the demon pick up a piece of wood that had broken off the table, swinging it at me. I quickly turned to face him, raising my hand, flinging him against the wall with ease.

"Wait your turn."

* * *

TPOV

Out in front of the Biggersons restaurant that we followed the demon to, Dean shut down the Impala, glancing back at Cas, who had finished his burger and was looking very forlorn.

"You want to go over the plan again? Hey, happy meal." Dean called, getting Cas's attention. "The plan?"

"I take the knife, I go in, I cut off the ring hand of Famine, and I meet you back here in the parking lot."

"Well, that sounds foolproof." Dean mumbled as Cas left. Some time had passed since Cas vanished from the backseat, and Dean glanced down to his watch again. "This is taking too long."

"Where are you going?" I asked as he got out of the Impala.

"I'm going in there."

"Okay, wait for me." I said, stumbling out of the car, my legs shaking a little.

"Tori, you should wait here."

"I'm coming, Dean." I snipped.

"Okay, okay. Fine. Let's go."

Dean led the way inside the building, where, almost as soon as we entered, we found Cas kneeling on the floor, stuffing his mouth with raw ground meat. My stomach lurched as four demons came out from the shadows, two grabbing Dean and two grabbing me. Dean fought back a bit harder than I could at the moment, my body still trembling slightly.

The demons dragged us into the main room of the restaurant where an old, frail looking man with oxygen tubes sat, flanked by demons. He smiled at us. "Ah, Miss Anderson. And the other Mr. Winchester."

"What did you do to him?" Dean asked, gesturing back to Castiel, who was still eating the raw meat.

"You sicked your dog on me. I just threw him a steak."

"So this is your big trick? Huh? Making people cuckoo for cocoa puffs?"

"Doesn't take much, hardly a push. Oh, America. All-you-can-eat, all the time. Consume, consume. It's so easy to take your souls."

"So you're gonna take my soul, too? Sorry to break it to you, but cigarettes would take a long time to kill me." I said.

"No, but it will weaken you. That strong wall you've built up. See, I don't want your soul, Miss Anderson. I don't want to kill you either. The apocalypse needs you. Lucifer needs you."

"He's gonna be waiting a long time."

"So brave. And yet, you're still starving because hunger doesn't just come from the body, it also comes from the soul."

"It's funny, it doesn't seem to be coming from mine." Dean said.

"Yes. I noticed that. Have you wondered why that is? How you could even walk in my presence?"

"Well, I like to think it's because of my strength of character."

"Strength of character?" Famine scoffed, gesturing to me. "That's strength of character. And look at her, a shaking mess. No, I disagree. I see. That's one deep, dark nothing you got there, Dean. Can't fill it, can you?"

"You're so full of shit."

"Oh, you can smirk and joke and lie to your family, lie to yourself, but not to me! I can see inside you, Dean. I can see how broken you are, how defeated. You can't win, and you know it. But you just keep fighting. Just... keep going through the motions. Everything you do, you do for Victoria. To make her happy. You're not hungry, Dean, because inside of you, there's barely anything left."

"Dean?" I called, looking at him with scared eyes. Dean didn't make eye contact with me, keeping his gaze on Famine, who continued.

"That fear you feel when Victoria's life is on the line? It's not only because you're afraid of losing the only person you've ever really let love you. No. It's because deep down, you know the only thing keeping you truly alive is her. The part of her soul that lives within you. And when that's gone, you will be, too. Your heart will beat, you will breathe, but you'll be dead."

"Let them go." Sam's voice echoed through the room. I looked up, seeing his face stained with blood, my heart dropping in an instant.

"Sam..." Famine smiled as some of the demons guarding began to move towards Sam. "Stop! No one lays a finger on this sweet little boy. Sam, I see you got the snack I sent you."

" _You_ sent?"

"Don't worry. You're not like everyone else. You'll never die from drinking too much. You're the exception that proves the rule. Just the way Satan wanted you to be. So-" He gestured to the demons. "cut their throats. Have at them!"

"Sammy, no!" Dean called.

"Please, be my guest."

Sam lifted his hand, closing his eyes, pulling all five demons from their hosts all at once, their smoke pooling on the floor. My eyes widened at the shock of actually getting to see the extent of Sam's power. "No."

Well...Fine. If you don't want them...then I'll have them." Famine said, bringing all five souls to his mouth with a flick of a his hand, devouring them. Sam stepped forward, extending his hand out towards Famine. "I'm a Horseman, Sam. Your power doesn't work on me."

"You're right. But it will work on them."

A bright light shined through the room as Sam began using his power to rip all of the souls out of Famine that he consumed, his nose beginning to bleed, still though, Sam didn't stop until the Horseman slumped over in his chair, his eyes empty and lifeless.

* * *

 **SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA– DAY  
Singer House**

Instead of us driving here, Castiel simply poof-ed us to Bobby's to make things easier for all of us, but especially Sam, who was currently in the panic room again, screaming to be let out, screaming for help. We knew it wasn't really him, and we knew that if he could think clearly, this is what he would want. But it still hurt just the same.

In a way, it almost amazed me how we never seemed to get a break. Day after day, there seemed to be more and more bad news.

Without a word, Dean went back upstairs, leaving Cas and I in the basement. He'd barely said two words, worrying me to no end. Thinking back to Famine, and what he told us, I wasn't even worried about Sam or myself. I was worried about Dean.

But I simply couldn't look at him and believe that he was nearly dead inside. The way he looked at me, how much I knew he loved me. The way he cared about people, about his brother. I couldn't believe that _I_ was the only thing keeping him...alive. Dean was so much more than that, so much stronger. That was something I knew for a fact.

And no matter what anyone said, even one of the four Horseman, I wouldn't let myself believe that the love of my life was nearly dead inside.

I wouldn't. Because if I did, I think I'd lose every single ounce of hope I had left.

* * *

 **Shit's getting heavy, guys :S**

 _ **Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid**_ **is next which means we finally get to meet Jody! I fucking love Jody ;D**

 **Thanks for reading and thanks (again) to _bookwriter123356_! **

**Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction **


	17. Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

_Don't want to be the one to walk away  
But I can't bear the thought of one more day  
I think I finally understand what it means to be lost  
Can't find the road to lead us out of this  
A million miles from where we burned the bridge  
Can't keep pretending everything's going to be alright  
With the whole world falling down on me_

 _..._

 _Fallen so far from where we were before_  
 _You'll never find what you've been searching for_  
 _Something to fill the void and make up for all of those missing pieces of you_  
 _Like I could only dream to do_  
 _…._

 _We never learn  
So we fall down again  
Heaven, help me find a way to dream within this nightmare_

 _Cross the oceans in my mind_  
 _Find the strength to say goodbye_  
 _Everything that we believed in was a lie_  
 _Cross the oceans in your mind_  
 _Find a way to blur the line_  
 _In the end you never can wash the blood from your hands_

 _ **Evanescence – Oceans**_

* * *

Needless to say, the past few days we'd spent at Bobby's allowing Sam to get clean...again, were filled with me trying to speak to Dean about what had happened back in Nebraska, and him completely blowing me off. I just wanted – _needed –_ to know how true it all was. But he'd never give me any answers.

 _You trust a fucking Horseman over me? I'm fine!_ He'd said, leaving the room before I got the chance to speak anymore.

But I knew, deep down, I knew...something was wrong. I could feel it, and it became more and more prominent every single day.

"Tor? Hello?" Dean called, waving a hand in front of my face.

"What?" I asked, glancing over at him from the passenger side of the Impala, blinking a couplet times.

"Call Bobby, he's not answering.'

"Yeah, okay." I nodded, picking up my phone, dialing Bobby's number. I waited, listening to it ring until I got his voicemail. "Hey, Bobby, when you get this, call okay?"

"So he's still not home? How far could he get in that chair?"

"What do we do now?" Sam asked as Dean parked the Impala in front of the small diner where the man we were supposed to speak to about a recent death here was waiting.

"I guess we just do it ourselves." Dean replied, getting out of the Impala. Sam and I followed him into the diner, seeing an older man, Mr. Wells sitting alone in one of the booths. Dean and I sat across from him, leaving Sam to pull up a chair at the front of the table. "Mr. Wells, why don't you tell us what you saw in your own words."

"Call me Digger." He muttered.

"Digger? Who gave you that name?"

"I did."

"You gave yourself your own nickname? You can't do that."

"Who died and made you queen?" He asked. Dean raised an eyebrow, looking a little offended.

"Okay, um, why don't you just tell us what you saw...Digger…?" I asked, shooting the man a small, encouraging smile.

"I saw Clay Thompson climb into Benny Sutton's trailer through the window. Couple minutes later, Clay walked out, and Benny's dead."

"And is this the guy you saw?" Dean inquired, holding up a photo of Clay.

"Well, he was all covered with mud, but, yeah. That's Clay."

Sam nodded slowly, looking to Digger. "And you are aware that Clay Thompson died five years ago?"

"Yeah."

"And you're positive that it was this guy?" Dean asked.

"You calling me a liar?" Digger asked, rising slightly in his seat.

"No, no. Of course not." Sam said quickly. "Look, can you think of any reason why Clay Thompson, alive or dead, would want to kill Benny Sutton?"

"Well, five years ago, Benny's the one that killed Clay in the first place. So-called _hunting accident_. Now, if you ask me... Clay came back from the grave to get a little payback."

Dean nodded slowly. "Go on."

"Owen, put down the cupcake and pick up an apple, okay?" A voice muttered behind us. I glanced back, seeing a dark-haired female Sheriff enter, her phone pressed to her ear. "Okay. I love you."

"Heads up. _Fargo._ "

She approached the table, smiling at the man. "Digger."

"Sheriff." Digger nodded.

"I'm Sheriff Jody Mills." She said, throwing us suspicious looks. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure."

"Agents Dorfman, Neidermeyer and Pepperridge. FBI." Dean announced.

"Welcome to Sioux Falls. Can I ask you what you're doing with Digger here?"

"They're doing their job." Digger said. "They believe be, Sheriff."

"The FBI believes a dead man committed a murder?"

"We're just asking a few questions, Sheriff." I said. "That's all."

"Of course, if a dead man didn't commit the murder, then, uh, who did?" Dean added jokingly.

Sheriff Mills narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion. "What'd you say your jurisdiction here was again?"

"Our jurisdiction is wherever the United States government sends us."

"Oh, yeah. How about me and your supervisor have a little chat about that?"

"Absolutely." Sam nodded, handing her a business card. The Sheriff looked at it for a moment before pulling out her cell phone again, dialing the number.

 _God, Bobby, please pick up._

"Agent Willis, this is Sheriff Jody Mills…" She started, furrowing her brow. "Bobby? Is this Bobby Singer?" After letting him respond, she rolled her eyes, flicking her phone shut, tucking it back into her pocket, shooting the three of us a look. "FBI, huh?"

"So you know Bobby Singer?"

"That is... a fun coincidence." Dean mumbled.

"Here's what I know about Bobby Singer. He's a menace around here, ass-full of drunk-and-disorderlies and mail fraud. You understanding me?"

"I think we all can agree that you've made yourself perfectly clear, yes."

"So, whatever the three of you are planning, it ends here. Now. Ten-four on that, Agents?"

* * *

 **BOBBY'S HOUSE – DAY**

After leaving the diner, we went straight back to Bobby's, knowing now that he was definitely home. With the boys following, I stepped into the kitchen, seeing Bobby sitting at the table, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Do you know how many times we've called?" I asked. "Where have you been?"

"Playing murderball." Bobby grumbled.

"I was worried about you, I'd appreciate a little less sarcasm."

"What is that smell? Is that soap?" Dean asked, sniffing the air. "Did you clean?"

"What are you, my parents?" Bobby snapped. "Bite me!"

"Bobby, seriously." Sam muttered.

"I've been working. You know, trying to find a way to stop the devil."

"And how's that going?" I asked.

"What do you think?"

"Exactly. You could've answered your damn phone! There is case less than five miles from your house."

"What, the Benny Sutton thing? That's what this is about?"

"You knew about this?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. I checked into it already. There's nothing here."

"Except a witness who saw a dead guy commit murder." Sam pointed out.

"What witness? Digger Wells?"

"Yeah." Dean nodded. "So?"

"So, he's a drunk."

"People might just say the same about you, does that make you crazy?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Bobby narrowed his eyes at me. "What crawled up your rear end and died?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Okay, okay. Maybe everyone should just...take deep breaths?" Sam suggested, looking at us with slightly wide eyes.

Staring over at Sam, I took in one sharp breath, letting it out just as fast before turning back to Bobby. "What about the lightning storms? They look like omens."

"Except in February in South Dakota in storm season. Guys, I thought it was something, too. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

"So who killed the guy?" Sam asked.

"Take your pick. This Benny Sutton guy was a grade-a son of a bitch. There's a list of the living a year long wouldn't mind putting a cap in his ass."

"So, you're telling us... nothing?" Dean asked incredulously.

"Sorry. Looks like you wasted a tank of gas on this one."

"Great."

* * *

Night was starting to fall as we left Bobby's house, driving down the road. Sam cleared his throat in the passenger seat, glancing back at me.

"So, uh, Tori are- are you okay?"

"Yeah." I nodded, glancing over at Dean, who was looking back at me in the rear-view mirror. _It's not like the man I love is refusing to tell me the truth about how he really feels._ I added in my mind with a sigh. "Why?"

"Just wondering."

"What about you?"

"I'm good." Sam muttered, returning his gaze to the road, realizing that Dean had pulled up in front of a the St. Antony's Cemetery. "What are we doing here?"

"That's the graveyard back there." Dean replied.

"Yeah, so what? Bobby already checked it out."

"And? What, Bobby's never wrong? We'll take a peek, and then we'll hit the road. Can't hurt." Dean shrugged, stepping out of the Impala. Sam and I followed, opening the cemetery gates, we began walking through the overgrown grass in the cemetery.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed some overturned soil in front of Clay's headstone, stopping to check it out. "Hey, look."

"That look fresh to you?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, actually."

With that, we pulled out a couple shovels, digging until we hit the coffin. I let the boys jump in, standing above the grave with a flashlight as they opened it, revealing it to be empty. The three of us shared a look, knowing immediately that something _was_ in fact going on here.

* * *

 **CLAY THOMPSON'S HOUSE – NIGHT**

The old house sat empty on a large plot of land in completely darkness. No lights on inside. Sam held the flashlight for me as I picked the lock on the front door, getting us inside with ease. Just as I was about to step in, Dean pulled me back slightly, opting to go inside first.

Almost as soon as he stepped foot inside, a man attacked him. Dean quickly got the upper-hand, pushing the man to the ground as I pointed by gun at him.

"Don't shoot me! Please!" He cried, holding his hands up. "There's money in the safe."

"We don't want your money." I said.

"What do you want? Anything. Please..."

"You're Clay Thompson, right?" Sam asked.

"Who are you?"

"FBI."

"FBI? Oh, my God. This is about Benny."

"What about Benny?" Dean asked.

"He killed me! He shot me in the back! I'm supposed to let him get away with that?"

"Hold up, are- are you confessing?"

"Please. I'll go with you. Just- just don't wake my kids." He pleaded, standing up, still holding his hands in front of him.

"You'll go with us...where?" I asked.

"Jail."

"Let me get this straight." Dean said. "You're Clay Thompson, and you died five years ago?"

"Yes."

"And three days ago you climbed out of your grave, and you killed Benny Sutton?"

"Yes."

"So you are, in fact, a dead guy."

"I guess. I- I- I don't know what I am."

"Clay?" A blonde woman called, entering the room. "I called 911."

"It's okay, honey. These men are the FBI. They're here about Benny."

"Why don't you come with us, Mr. Thompson? I think that'd be best." Dean said, leading the man outside to the long driveway.

Sam grabbed his brothers arm, stopping him. "Dean-"

"He's a monster."

"He's a soccer dad."

"What do you want to do with him?"

Suddenly, sirens blared in the distance, a police car stopped in front of the house, Sheriff Mills stepping out with another police officer behind her, their guns drawn. "Freeze! Drop your guns!"

"Whoa, whoa. Alright. Hey. Remember the guy you said that was dead and couldn't possibly commit murder? There he is." Dean said, nodding to Clay.

"And?"

" _And_?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, what? This man is- he's essentially a zombie."

"Whatever he is or isn't, that don't give you the right to shoot him in the middle of the street." She said, placing a pair of handcuffs on me while the other cop cuffed Sam and Dean.

"Shoot me?" Clay asked.

"You're free to go, Mr. Thompson."

"Free to go?" Dean asked, his eyes wide.

Clay looked at Dean, his eyes wide. "I can't believe you were gonna kill me."

"You're a zombie!"

"I'm a taxpayer!"

"Come on." Sheriff Mills said, leading me to the back of the police cruiser.

"You're kidding, right? This is insane, you do get that don't you?"

"I'd stop talking if I were you, Missy." She said, pushing me into the backseat.

The boys were squished inside with me, the three of us sandwiched in the back of the car as the cops got in and drove away, leaving Clay undead in his driveway.

* * *

 **JAIL CELL – NIGHT**

For once, all three of us were placed in the same cell, our handcuffs still tightly in place around our wrists. I let out a heavy breath, leaning back against the concrete wall. I couldn't believe what just happened.

"So, what? Sheriff's on the take?" Dean wondered aloud.

"Yeah. No. The zombies are paying her off?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Maybe she's one of them." I mumbled, looking down the hallway to the main room of the police station, seeing Sheriff Mills and Bobby talking. "Whoa, look."

"So now they're friends?" Dean asked.

Eventually, Bobby rolled over in front of our cell. Sheriff Mills followed, unlocking our door, then taking off our cuffs. "Lucky break, kids."

I shot both her and Bobby a suspicious look as I stepped out of the cell, the boys close behind. Bobby noticed my look, glancing down to the ground as Sam took the back of his wheelchair, rolling him out of the station and into the parking lot.

"Bobby, I thought the Sheriff hated you?" I asked, glancing down at him.

"She did till five days ago."

"What happened five days ago?" Dean asked.

"The dead started rising all over town."

"So you knew about this?" Sam asked, stopping his stride.

"Yup."

"I think what Sam meant to say is, you lied to us?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Look, I told you there was nothing here. And there isn't. Not for you."

"There are zombies here."

"There are zombies...and then there are zombies. Come with me."

* * *

 **BOBBY'S HOUSE – NIGHT**

During the entire drive back to Bobby's house, he didn't say a word, keeping quiet. As we entered the home, I noticed the smell of something being cooked lingering in the air and looked down to Bobby in question. He couldn't cook a decent meal to save his life. I was the only one around here who ever did any real cooking.

Dean noticed the scent too, looking to Bobby. "You want to tell us what the hell-"

"Oh, hey. I didn't realize you were bringing company." A familiar looking blonde woman wearing an apron appearing at the kitchen door way, carrying a plate of food, wearing a happy smile on her face.

"It's four AM, babe. You didn't need to cook." Bobby told her.

"Oh, please! I'll get some more plates." She smiled again, leaving out view.

"Who was that?" Dean asked.

"I feel like I've seen her before." I muttered.

"You have." Bobby said. "It's Karen, my wife."

"Your new wife that just happens to look a lot like-"

"My dead wife? No. She is my dead wife."

"Come on in, everybody." Karen smiled, waving us into the kitchen as she set down the last plate on the table. "I just made some pie."

"Pie?" Dean asked, walking into the kitchen with no problem. I rolled my eyes at him, following along as Sam pushed Bobby in behind us.

"So, Bobby, who are your friends?"

"This is, uh, Sam, Dean and Victoria." Bobby introduced us.

"Nice to meet you! Come on, have a seat."

This woman was so peppy and upbeat, it was hard to picture someone like that with someone like Bobby.

She began to slice the pie as we all sat down, putting a piece of each plate she'd set down, giving us small smiles. "Hope you like blueberry."

"Sure, yeah." Dean nodded, taking a bite of the pie. I couldn't make myself eat it, glancing down at the pie with distrust. "This is incredible, Mrs. Singer."

"Thank you, Dean."

I glanced over at Dean, giving him a pointed look, to which he shrugged. "What? It is. Not better than yours though. Your pie is-"

"Zip it." I said through slightly gritted teeth.

"Victoria, would you like some ice cream to go with it? Maybe some whip cream?" She asked, her blue eyes sweet and sincere. I immediately felt awful.

"No thank you, Mrs. Singer. I'm, uh, just not very hungry right now."

A zombie made this...that couldn't be okay, right? I shouldn't feel bad for not eating it...right?

"Well, I'll go grab some vanilla ice cream just in case." She smiled, walking out of the room.

Dean waited until she was gone, looking over to Bobby. "Are you crazy, what the hell?"

"Dean, I can explain." He muttered.

"Explain what? Lying to us? Or the _American Girl_ zombie making cupcakes in your kitchen?!"

"First of all, that's my wife, so watch it."

"I'm sorry. Whatever that is in there, it isn't your wife." I said softly.

"And how do you know that?"

"Bobby."

"You think I'm an idiot, girl? My dead wife shows up on my doorstep, I'm not gonna test her every way I ever learned?"

"So what is it? Zombies? Revenant?" Dean asked.

"Hell if I can tell. She's got no scars, no wounds, no reaction to salt, silver, holy water."

"Bobby, she crawled out of her coffin."

"No, she didn't. I cremated her. Somehow, some way, she's back."

"That's impossible." I said.

"Tell me about it."

"Did you bury her ashes?" Sam asked.

"Yeah."

"Where?"

"In the cemetery. That's where they all rose from."

"How many?" Dean asked.

"Fifteen, twenty. I made a list." Bobby said, handing us a list of names. "There's Karen, Clay. Sheriff Mills – her little boy came back."

"And there were no signs?" Sam asked. "No omens?"

"Well, there were the lightning storms."

"That's what we said." Dean nodded. "What else?"

Bobby pulled a bible onto the table, flipping to one of the pages. " _And through the fire stood before me a pale horse. And he that sat atop him carried a scythe, and I saw since he had risen, they, too, shall rise, and from him and through him._ "

"So, what? Death is behind this?"

"Death, Death? Like _Grim Reaper_ death?" Sam asked.

"Yeah." Bobby nodded. "The big guy."

"Another horseman." I sighed. "Wonderful."

"Must be Thursday." Dean mumbled.

"Bobby, why would Death raise fifteen people in a podunk town like Sioux Falls?" Sam asked.

"I don't know." Bobby shrugged.

"You know, if Death is behind this, then whatever these things are, it's not good. " Dean said, glancing over to Bobby. "You know what we have to do here."

"She doesn't remember anything, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"Being possessed, me killing her...her coming back."

"Bobby." I muttered, watching the emotion overflow in his eyes.

"No, no, don't _Bobby_ me. Just- just listen, okay?" He asked. We paused, hearing a low, melodic hum coming from the kitchen. "She hums when she cooks. She always used to hum when she cooked. Tone deaf as all hell, but- and I never thought I would hear it again. Look, just read Revelation. The dead rise during the apocalypse. There's nothing in there that says that's bad! Hell, maybe it's the one good thing that comes out of this whole bloody mess. I know what you think you got to do. But...I'm begging you. Please. Please. Leave her be."

* * *

 **MOTEL – DAY**

After leaving Bobby's, we went and got a motel, not about to leave him completely alone with...whatever that thing was. Once the sun had risen, Dean and I headed over to Bobby's house, hanging out in the salvage yard.

"Dean?"

"Yeah?" Dean asked. I glanced up into his eyes, seeing that same look there – the one that told me he was cut off, and wouldn't talk for anything.

"Nothing." I mumbled.

Dean looked a little bit concerned, nudging his shoulder into mine. "You sure?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"I asked, looking up to him in question.

"For-"

"Hello?" Karen called, startling us. "Oops. Did I scare you?"

"No. No. There's... nothing scary about you at all."

"Feel like some lunch?"

"Uh-" Dean paused, glancing over at me. "No, we're good. Thanks."

"Come on, there's more pie."

"I don't think Bobby wants us inside." I said,

"Guess it'll have to be our secret then, huh?" She smiled, beginning to walk back to the house. "Come on."

Inside, the entire home smelled of baked goods, nearly every surface of the kitchen covered in cooling pies.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that you like pies. Did you bake all these?" Dean asked.

"I don't know what it is. Since I got back, I can't stop baking."

"When do you have time to sleep?" I asked.

"I don't. Must be the excitement."

"Or being dead." Dean finished.

Karen shot us both an understanding look. "I know you don't trust me."

"Why would you say that?"

"That's why you're here, isn't it? Keeping an eye on me? I know who you are. Just like I know Bobby's not the same mild-mannered scrap dealer I married. You hunt things. I- I'm a thing. I get it."

"So then you know that we would never let anything happen to Bobby. That he's like a father to us."

"I understand. And he's lucky to have you three looking out for him. But you're not the only one."

"Is that so?" I asked.

"I remember everything, you know. When I died. That demon taking over my body... and the things it made me do. And Bobby having no choice but to- well, you know what he did. But I can see it in his eyes when he looks at me. The guilt. It weighs on him."

"So why don't you just tell him you remember?"

"Have you ever been in love?"

"Yeah."

"Then you know why. He's my husband. My job is to bring him peace...not pain." She muttered. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dean glance over at me, quickly looking away as I turned towards him.

* * *

Just as Dean and I left, Bobby arrived back. We watched from a distance in the impala when Sam called, frantically telling us that one of the people on Bobby's list had killed another man and just attacked him. He shot her. Dean and I shared a nervous look, knowing we couldn't leave Bobby alone with Karen any longer. Sam was about five minutes away, so we headed back inside.

"Kids? What are you doing here?" Bobby asked, looking at us in suspicion.

"Bobby, can we talk?" I asked. Seeing him about to refuse, I placed every single emotion I felt into my eyes, letting him know just how serious this was. "Bobby, please."

Just then, Sam entered, looking a little frazzled as he began to explain what happened. Bobby shook his head, shushing us. "Keep your damn voices down. Karen's upstairs."

"Oh, I'm sorry. We're a little tense right now. Who's old lady Jones?" Dean asked.

"The first one to come up."

"The first one to go bad." Sam said.

"Ah, she was always a nutty broad."

"Nutty how? Nutty like the way she ate her husband's stomach?" Dean asked incredulously. "Was that the level of nutty she was in life?"

"No."

"Look, Bobby, I feel for you. But you have got to acknowledge that you're not exactly seeing this straight!"

"Bobby, whether you admit it or not, these things are turning. We have to stop them – all of them."

Bobby pulled out a handgun, resting it on his lap. "Time to go."

I stared at the weapon, my stomach sinking. "What?"

"You heard me. Off my property."

"Or what? You'll shoot?"

"If Karen turns, I will handle it my way."

"This is dangerous." Dean said.

"I'm not telling you twice." Bobby grumbled, cocking his gun.

"Fine, we'll go." I muttered, looking down at him with worried eyes. "Just please, keep yourself safe, okay?"

* * *

 **IMPALA – NIGHT**

The three of us sat out in the car, parked right off of Bobby's property. Even though he practically threatened to shoot us, I was still worried about him, wondering how long it would take Karen to turn, and what would happen once she did.

"He's crazy." Dean mumbled.

"It's his wife, Dean." Sam said.

"So he goes _Full Metal Jacket on us?_ We're his family, Sam."

"How would you be if it were Tori?"

Dean froze mid-breath at that, trying to play off how badly he reacted. My mind went straight back to what Famine had said, I'm sure his did, too.

"Look, man. Bigger fish, okay?" Sam continued, seemingly missing his brothers reaction. "I mean, we got a bunch of zombies about to turn this town into a giant chew toy."

"Yeah, and he's alone in the house making pie with one of them!"

"Alright? So?"

" _So_? I'm gonna have to go back there and- and- and kill her. That's the only thing I can think of."

"If he sees you, you're a dead man."

"Well, then, I guess I won't let him see me."

"And if he does?" I asked,

"He won't."

"It's Bobby. He's gonna see you."

"I'll figure it out." Dean said, getting out of the car, taking his shotgun with him.

"Just be careful, okay?" I asked, leaning out of the backseat window as Sam slid into the driver seat.

"I will."

"Don't do anything stupid."

"When do I ever do anything stupid?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Dean shook his head, placing a quick kiss on my lips, stepping away from the car as Sam sped off towards the town.

"So, everything okay between you and Dean?" Sam asked.

"I hardly think now is the time for couples therapy, Sam."

"I'm just asking."

"We'll be okay. We're gonna have to be."

"How are we gonna do this?" Sam asked, changing the subject.

"Good question."

"We might need some help."

"What about the Sheriff?"

"Last time I checked, the sheriff was pretty pro-zombie."

"Well, maybe we can convince her."

"You're kidding." Sam said glancing back to me, seeing the look on my face. "You're serious?"

"Dead serious."

* * *

Just as we reached the house, Sam and I sprinted out of the car. I was about to knock on the door when I peered inside of the small window next to it, seeing Sheriff Mills son kneeling over his father, chewing on his arm.

Quickly, Sam broke the door down as the boy stood, about to run at Sheriff Mills. I grabbed her arm, pulling her outside as Sam shut the door on the boy as he slammed into it.

"No!" She cried, trying to get back inside.

"We have to go!" I told her.

"My husband!"

"You can't, he's dead!"

"That was…not my son."

"No, it wasn't. Sheriff, your town is in danger. People are in danger and we need to help them. Now." I said, holding the tops of her arms, keeping her still. "Can you do that?"

She shook her head, tears in her eyes. "No."

"Yes you can. That's why you are who you are, right? That's why they put you in charge of this place. Can you focus for me?"

"How do we put them down?" She asked, putting on a brave face.

"Head shot." Sam said.

"We're gonna need weapons."

"We can start by rounding up everybody we can find. Where is there a safe place we can take people?"

"Jail."

"Right." Sam nodded, glancing over at me, silently telling me what he needed to know.

"Come on." I said, taking her over to the Impala as Sam went back inside, the sound of a gunshot ringing through the air. She flinched, pulling in a deep breath before sliding into the backseat.

* * *

We'd gotten a group of people into the jail, corralling them into the main room while Sheriff Mills grabbed a few guns and bullets, bringing them over, setting them down on the desk.

"Alright, if we hand you a gun and you see a dead person, I don't care if it's your friend, your neighbor, or your wife, you shoot for the head. That's the only way we survive." Sam said, beginning to hand out a few guns with me. "Stay sharp."

"You mind telling us who the hell you are?" One of the men asked.

"Friends of Bobby Singer's."

"Town drunk."

"I thought he was the town drunk." Sam said, nodding to Digger Wells.

"Who told you that?"

"Bobby Singer." I said pulling my phone out, trying to call Dean for the fourth time, to no avail. I put my phone down with a huff, looking over to Sam. "Dean's not answering."

"Think Bobby really shot him?" Sam asked.

"No...I mean, I don't think so. Something's wrong." I muttered, standing to my feet. "I'm gonna go check it out. You can stay with everybody here."

"You're gonna go alone?" Sheriff Mills asked.

"Yeah, I- I'm pretty used to this kind of stuff."

"I don't think so."

"I'm sorry?"

"You have no idea what you're walking into."

"I usually don't."

"Then I'm coming."

"Sheriff-"

"Sam has almost everyone in the town here with him."

"None of these people really know what to do." I said quietly.

"We're in South Dakota, everyone knows how to work a gun. You go out there by yourself, there's no telling what'll happen."

"Really, Sheriff, I got it. I'm have pretty good aim."

"Well, look at that." Sheriff Mills smiled tightly, cocking her gun. "So do I."

* * *

 **BOBBY'S HOUSE – NIGHT  
** DPOV

Making my way around the front of the house...again, I checked my shotgun...again, lingering around the front door, making sure to stay out of view from the windows. That is, until I heard a gunshot echo through the home. I kicked the door down, bolting into the living room to find Bobby sitting in front of his wife, who laid on the couch, holding her hand, blood dripping down the pillow underneath her head. I stayed quiet as Bobby turned around, finally realizing I was there.

"You don't listen to well, do you?"

"I had to make sure you were alright, Bobby."

"Yeah. Where's _Mo_ and _Curly_?"

"Saving the rest of the town."

"Let's go then, we gotta help out." Bobby said, wheeling past me.

"You know, Bobby, if you want to sit this one out-"

"Let's just get going."

Once outside, I heard a clank over by one of the cars, going to investigate, leaving Bobby by the porch steps. Before I knew it, I heard Bobby calling my name, shooting a few rounds off in the distance. As I turned, a zombie tackled me to the ground. I punched him, trying to reach for my gun that was knocked out of my hand. Eventually I grabbed it, smacking the zombie in the head with the butt of the gun before shooting him right between the eyes, his head exploding.

I quickly got to my feet, shooting zombies as I rushed back to the small clearing where Bobby was sitting. Another male zombie tackled him out of his wheelchair just as I ran up, thankfully shooting him in the head before anything happened.

"Little help here?"

"Yeah." I breathed, helping him back into his chair, constantly looking around for more zombies.

"Well, so much for getting out of here." Bobby grumbled, the both of us having to begin shooting again as more zombies jumped over the scrapped cars, running at us. I pushed Bobby, walking backwards to shoot a few of them as he continued to shoot over his shoulder until we got back inside the house.

"Got any more ammo?" I asked. "I'm low."

"Yeah, we got plenty. Just run back past the zombies. It's in the van, where we left it."

"A simple _no_ would have been fine. What are they all doing here, anyway?"

"I think I get it."

"What?"

Suddenly, zombies began breaking in through the windows, rushing at us. Barely making a dent in the horde that crawled through.

"That ain't good."

"I'm out."

"Me too." Bobby said. As the zombies chased us, we moved down the hallway to the closet at the end. I pushed Bobby inside, quickly locking the door behind us, turning the light on. "Kind of a tight fit, don't you think?"

"It's alright. They're idiots. They can't pick a lock." Just as I said that, the pounding on the door stopped and the handle began to jiggle.

Bobby watched it for a moment before looking up at me with a tired expression. "Don't you ever get tired of being wrong?"

"I'm making this stuff up as I go. Sue me."

* * *

TPOV

As I pulled the Impala up in front of Bobby's house, Sheriff Mills and I got out, our guns drawn. I spotted the open front door and smashed windows, picking up my speed, Sheriff Mills keeping up with me easily as I ran through the house, the sound of commotion leading the way.

Once we reached the far end of the house, I saw Dean standing inside a closet, hitting a group of zombies with the butt of his gun, trying to keep them away.

"Get down!" I shouted. Dean immediately ducked back into the closet as Sheriff Mills and I opened fire on the zombies, hitting each one of them in the head with ease. She didn't lie when she said she had good aim.

We continued until all of the zombies were dead, blood splattered everywhere.

* * *

 **CEMETERY – DAY**

The next morning, we gathered all of the bodies in the cemetery to burn them while Sheriff Mills went to check on the townspeople. I stood in between Sam and Dean, the flames flickering high in front of us.

"Well, if there's any zombies left out there, we can't find them." Dean said.

Sam glanced back as Sheriff Mills walked up to us. "How are the townspeople?"

"Pretty freaked out." She said. "Hell, traumatized. A few of them are calling the papers. As far as I can tell, nobody's believed them yet."

"Would you?"

"How are you holding up?" I asked cautiously, seeing her lip tremble slightly as she tried to hold back tears. Understanding that she had no desire to talk about it, I looked back to the boys. "Is that everyone?"

"All but one." Sam nodded.

* * *

Back at Bobby's, we helped him bring Karen outside, setting up a hunters-style funeral for her.

"So, thinking maybe I should apologize for losing my head back there." Bobby mumbled.

"It's okay, Bobby." I nodded, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I get it."

"At least you got to spend five days with her, right?" Dean asked.

"Right. Which makes things about a thousand times worse. She was the love of my life. How many times do I got to kill her?" Bobby asked, his voice breaking slightly. "You kids should know, Karen told me why Death was here."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"I know why he took a stroll through a cemetery in the sticks of South Dakota. He came for me."

"You?" I asked.

"Death came for me. He brought Karen back to send me a message."

"Why?"

"Because I've been helping you sons of bitches. I'm one of the reasons you're still saying no to Lucifer, Sam."

"So this was like a hit on your life?" Dean asked.

"I don't know if they wanted to take my life or my spirit. Either way, they wanted me out of the way."

"But you're gonna be alright. Right, Bobby?" Sam asked.

Bobby didn't say a word, keeping his eyes trained on the fire burning in front of us.

* * *

 ** _Dark Side of the Moon_ is next! **

**Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it!**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction**


	18. Dark Side of the Moon

_What if all you understand  
Could fit into the center of a hand  
And then you found it wasn't you  
Who held the sum of everything you knew  
We're insane, but not alone  
We hold and let go _

… _.._

 _What if the one thing that I missed  
Was everything I need to pass the test  
And if I fail what happens then?  
Can I still count on you as a friend?_

… _._

 _Like the sun, we will live to rise  
Like the sun, we will live and die  
And then, ignite again  
Like the sun, we will live to rise  
Like the sun, we will live and die  
And then, ignite again  
Like the sun, we will live to rise  
Again, again _

_**Soundgarden – Live to Rise**_

* * *

The sound of someone entering the room woke me up and I subtly reached under my pillow for my gun, not feeling anything.

"Looking for this?" A voice asked from behind.

I turned over, seeing two men standing there, one of them popping the cartridge out of my gun, tossing it aside, keeping his own gun trained on me. The second man kept his gun on Sam, who was sitting up. As I rolled over, I saw Tori staring up at the men, the calculating look in her eye as she was trying to figure out how to get out of this.

"Morning." I muttered.

"Shut up. Hands where I can see them."

"Wait a minute Is that you, Roy?" I asked, holding my hands up. "It is, isn't it? Which makes you Walt." The two men looked between each other, taking their masks off. "Well, is it just me, or do you two seem a tad upset?"

"You think you can flip the switch on the Apocalypse and just walk away, Sam?" Walt asked.

"Who told you that?" Sam asked, staring down the barrel of the gun.

"We ain't the only hunters after you. See you in the next life."

"Hear me out. I can explain, okay? Please."

Walt pumped his shotgun, shooting a bullet straight into Sam's chest. Tori jumped, wanting to rush to Sam when Roy panicked, shooting her right in the chest, sending her flying backwards. My eyes widened as I looked over at her, seeing the blood gush from the wound.

Immediately, I felt the a phantom tug on my insides, my teeth gritted together as I glared back at Roy, who pointed his gun to me. "I didn't-"

"Don't apologize, shoot him!" Walt exclaimed.

"What?"

"He made us and we just snuffed his brother and girlfriend, you idiot. You want to spend the rest of your life knowing Dean Winchester's on your ass, 'cause I don't. Shoot him."

"Go ahead, Roy, do it. But I'm going warn you, when I come back I'm going to be pissed." I threatened, my voice harsh. "Come on! Let's get this show on the road!"

* * *

Loud crashes of thunder woke me up and I realized I was in the front seat of the Impala. I groggily got out, making my way to the back of the car, stopping dead in my tracks when I saw a twelve year old Sam carrying a crate of fireworks, Tori behind him, smiling at me.

"Come on, let's go." Sam said, walking off.

"Weird dream." I mumbled, following him.

"Got your lighter?"

I checked my pockets, pulling out one of my old lighters. "Whoa, I haven't seen this in years."

"Fire 'em up." Sam nodded. I lit the fireworks, stepping back as they went off, shooting red sparks into the sky.

"I remember this. It's Fourth of July, nineteen-ninety-six." I smiled, looking over to Tori. "You've only been with us like three months."

She didn't respond, watching the fireworks with Sam, who looked over at me with a smile. "Dad would never let us do anything like this. Thanks, Dean. This is great."

Sam wrapped his arms around me, hugging me tightly. I paused for a moment, hugging him back. Tori smiled at us, leaning against the back of the Impala.

God, she's beautiful.

Okay, that's kind of weird, dude. She's fourteen.

"Thanks guys." She murmured.

"For what?" Sam asked.

"Including me."

"You're part of our family now, Tori." Sam smiled at her. As he ducked away to light up the rest of the fireworks, I saw Tori wipe a tear off her cheek with the back of her hand, the smile still on her face as she watched Sam. "Fire in the hole!"

All the fireworks went off, sending colored sparks up into the air in a loud bang. I felt genuine joy fill me, laughing along with Sam and Tori as he grabbed her hand, pulling her out into the field to run around underneath the sparks with him.

Suddenly, the explosions got louder and louder, one after another, until three loud sounds echoed through the night. In my head, visions began playing of Sam, Tori and I in the motel room, being shot. I blinked and when I reopened my eyes, everything was gone. Sam, Tori, the fireworks. The only thing that was left was me standing next to the Impala in the field.

* * *

TPOV

The sun shined down brightly on me, the heat of it radiating through my skin. I heard a loud noise next to me, cracking an eye open to see a couple people playing beach volleyball, the sound I'd heard was the ball smacking into the net. I sat up, looking down at myself, seeing that I was wearing my white bikini.

"Hey, we finally get a day at the beach and you're gonna sleep it away?" Dean asked. I looked over, seeing a teenaged Dean kneeling next to me, a smile on his face.

"What?" I asked. "What's going on?"

"Wake up."

"I am up." I mumbled, pushing my hair out of my face, looking around, a small smile spreading across my lips. "I haven't had this dream in a while."

This was one of the days that we didn't have to sneak off to do something fun, John actually let us go to the beach. God, this was the best day. We were allowed to be kids. We just had fun.

I almost lost it because Dean rubbed sun screen on my back. If I knew then that he would be doing much, _much_ more than that in only a few years time, I would've had a heart attack.

"What's this?" Dean asked, plucking the book I'd been reading off of my chest.

"It's a book. You know, words printed on pages that you read."

"I know what a book is, Tor."

A couple guys walked past then, a few of them staring at me lustfully. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dean glare, his jaw ridged.

"Jealous?" I asked, seeing that he completely ignored me as though I hadn't said a word.

Dean looked over at me then, a small smile on his face, acting like I didn't just see what I did. "So, having fun?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Yeah. Haven't had this much fun in a long time. I don't know how you convinced Dad to let us do this, but I'm glad you did."

Truth be told, I didn't know how either. It was a miracle.

As I watched the water lapping up onto the shore, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dean staring at me with an expression I knew all too well by now. Lust.

Did he always look at me like that? That intensely? Jesus, it's almost like he's gonna start making out with me.

"Tori?"

"Yeah?" I asked, turning to face him, my heart already pounding in my chest as I relived this moment.

"I just, uh- uh-" Dean stammered, his face inches from mine. He kept leaning in closer, almost to the point when our lips were about to touch when I realized what was happening and pulled back.

Back then, I pulled back because I was scared of how badly I wanted him to close that gap, to feel his lips pressed against mine. Now I pulled back because it felt weird having him, as a seventeen year old, kiss me.

Either way, it was fucking hard to say no.

The look on Dean's face as I pulled back began with a bit of rejection, followed by him realizing what was just about to happen. I nearly saw him mentally beating himself up over it and was about to say something when Sam came running over, grabbing a drink out of the cooler, his hair wet and hanging in his face.

"Hey, you're up." He smiled, sitting down on the towel next to me, shaking his hair out, getting me all wet.

"Hey!" I chuckled, pushing him over playfully.

"So...what was going on over here?"

"Nothing." Dean said a bit too quickly. I couldn't help but smile, remembering how jumpy we used to be whenever the subject of our feelings towards each other came up.

"You sure?" Sam pressed, a smirk on his lips. He saw.

I remember how red my cheeks had gotten in that very moment. Not only did Dean almost kiss me, but Sam saw too. And he totally didn't buy it later when I tried to explain away what happened.

 _Dean wasn't about to kiss me. He- he- he had to tell me something. Quietly. So he leaned in._

 _He had to tell you something...through your mouth?_

I chuckled at the memories while the boys ignored me, continuing. Dean huffed. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Really? 'Cause I'm pretty sure I-"

"Shut up, bitch."

"You first, jerk."

Music to my ears.

"I'm gonna kill you, I swear." Dean said, shooting up off the towel, going after Sam, who quickly got up and began running away from his brother as he chased him.

Suddenly, a loud static began playing from the radio next to me, one that I never noticed had been in this dream before. " _Victoria_?"

"Cas?"

" _Yeah, it's me._ "

"Are you monitoring my dreams again?"

" _Listen to me very closely. This isn't a dream._ "

"Then what is it?"

" _Deep down, you already know._ "

I nodded, pulling in a deep breath as flashes of Walt shooting Sam, then Roy shooting me played in my head. "I'm dead."

" _Condolences_."

"So if I'm dead, then where am I?"

" _Heaven_."

"Heaven?"

" _Yes. This spell, this connection, it's difficult to maintain._ "

"Okay, where are Sam and Dean?"

" _What do you see?_ "

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking around.

" _Some people see a tunnel or a river. What do you see?_ "

"I'm at the beach. I see rocks, trees. Water."

" _Water? For you, it's water?_ "

"What's water?"

" _Listen to me, Victoria. Follow the water. You'll find them-_ " Cas explained, his voice breaking up. " _Follow the water._ "

With that, I got up from my spot on the towels, beginning to head down the beach, following the line where the water hit the sand. As I walked, the sky kept getting darker and darker. I passed a large group of rocks, and was in the middle of the field. I looked around frantically at the abrupt change in scenery, my eyes finally falling on the Impala. I ran over to it, finding Dean in the driver seat.

"Dean?" I called.

Dean looked up at me, his eyes going wide. "Tori? What are you doing here?"

"We're dead."

"We're-" He paused, his eyes clouding over. "We're dead."

"Yeah."

"How did you get here?" Dean asked, his eyes dragging down my body. "What are you wearing?"

"Cas got in contact with me through a radio. He told me I could find you if I kept following the water."

"Water?"

"The beach."

"The beach? You mean that day I almost-"

"Kissed me? Yeah." I smiled, getting into the passenger seat. "We have to find Sam."

"How?"

"Well, Cas told me to follow a tunnel or a river. But it ended up being water."

"The only thing I see here is a road."

"Maybe it's the road, then?"

"So, what, we follow the yellow brick road?"

"Worth a shot. We're already dead."

Dean nodded, starting the Impala up, beginning down the long, dark highway. The moon shined brightly in the sky, which had purple flecks to it. We drove until we saw an old fashioned three-story home, stopping in front of it.

We slowly got out of the car, noticing nothing but the home in view. Dean came around to the passenger side, taking his jacket off, giving it to me so I could be a bit more covered up as we both set off towards the home.

Inside there was hushed conversation coming from the dining room. Dean and I followed the noise, seeing a man carving turkey. Sitting at the table was a woman, a teenaged girl...and Sam next to her. The man placed a huge piece of turkey down on Sam's plate.

"Thank you." Sam muttered politely, adjusting his black tie.

"So, Sam. I hear you're new to McKinley." The man said.

"Yes sir. Two weeks."

"Stephanie over here just can't seem to stop talking about you."

"Dad, shut up." The girl said, shooting Sam a small smile. He grinned back nervously, jumping suddenly.

"Wow. Just wow." Dean said, making our presence known.

"Guys?" Sam asked. "What are you doing in my dream?"

"Come here." I told him, nodding back into the living room. Sam glanced between the other people at the table before getting up, following us. The family's conversation continued like nothing had changed at all.

"So, what does your father do for a living?" The man asked, pausing for where Sam's answer would usually be. "Hm. You don't say."

"What's going on? How are you here?" Sam asked.

"We're dead. All of us." I replied.

"What?"

"Yeah." Dean nodded. "Gonzo. All three of us."

"We're in heaven." I added.

"Heaven?" Sam asked.

"Yup."

"Okay, how are we in heaven?"

"All that clean living, I guess." Dean shrugged.

"No, no. Okay. You two, I get, sure. But me? Maybe you haven't noticed, but I've done a few things?"

"You thought you were doing the right thing."

"Last I checked, it wasn't the road to heaven that was paved with good intentions."

"Yeah, well, if this is the Skymall it sucks. I mean, where's the triplets and the latex, you know? Come on, a guy has needs." Dean complained, I shot him a look, my eyes narrowed. He quickly backtracked. "Not me. Other guys. Sam."

"You know, when you bite the dust they say your life flashes before your eyes."

"Your point?"

"This house, it's one of my memories."

"When I woke up, I woke up in one of my memories. The Fourth of July we burned down that field?"

"Me too." I said. "That day we had at the beach when we were kids."

"Maybe that's what heaven is, a place where you relive your greatest hits."

"Wait, so… playing footsie with brace-face in there? That's a trophy moment for you?" Dean asked.

"Dean, I was eleven years old. This was my first real Thanksgiving."

"What are you talking about? We had Thanksgiving every year."

"We had a bucket of extra-crispy and Dad passed out on the couch." Sam huffed. A loud rumbling noise began outside, calling out attention to it. "I don't remember this."

Suddenly, the lights went out, the house beginning to shake. We ran to the far corner of the room and Dean pulled me with him down behind the couch. The framed photo on the mantle fell off and broke, a bright searchlight streamed through the room, more glass broke and furniture fell over.

And just as soon as it began, the searchlight went away, and the lights came back on in the house. The family continued eating and talking in the background, nothing had affected them. The three of us emerged from our hiding places.

"What the hell was that?" Sam asked.

"I don't know, but we are taking the escalator back downstairs." Dean said, stepping in front of a radio, hitting it. "Cas?" Dean let out a huff, handing it to me. "You try."

"Cas?" I called into the radio, seeing that Sam was staring at the both of us in confusion.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Dean asked.

"Like you've lost your minds."

"Cas talked to me before using a radio." I explained. "Cas?"

The TV behind us began to flicker, a static filled screen appearing. " _I can hear you._ "

"Hey, so I found Dean. We found Sam." I said, facing the TV, watching the rolling and distorted picture of Cas filter through. "Something weird just happened. There was this beam of light."

" _Don't go into the light._ "

"Okay. Thanks, Carol Ann." Dean rolled his eyes. "What was it?"

" _Not what, whom. Zachariah. He's searching for you._ "

"And if he finds us?" Sam asked.

" _You can't say yes to Michael and Lucifer if you're dead. You cannot take Camael's grace for the same reason. Zachariah needs to return you to your bodies._ "

"Great! Problem solved."

" _No. You don't understand. You- you're behind the Wall. This is a rare opportunity._ "

"For what?" Dean asked.

" _You need to find an angel. His name is Joshua._ "

"Hey, man, no offense but we are kind of ass full of angels, okay. You find him."

" _I can't. I can't return to heaven._ "

"What's so important about Joshua?" Sam asked.

" _The rumor is, he talks to God._ "

"And, so?" Dean inquired, raising an eyebrow.

" _You think maybe, just maybe, we should find out what the hell God has been saying?_ " Cas snapped.

My eyes widened. "Ouch."

"Touchy." Dean mumbled.

" _Please. I just need you to follow the road. It's called the Axis Mundi. It's a path that runs through heaven. Different people see it as different things. For you, it's two-lane asphalt. The road will lead you to the Garden. You'll find Joshua there. And Joshua can take us to God. Quick hurry._ " Cas finished just before the TV died.

"So, what do you think?" Sam asked.

"I think we hit the yellow bricks, find this Joshua cat." Dean said, about to head for the door.

"Really?"

"What? You don't?"

"No, I'm just surprised you do. Last time I checked you wanted to break God's nose, now you think he can help?"

"He's the only one who can. I mean, come on. We are royally boned. So prayer? The last hope of a desperate man." Dean said, turning to go for the door. Sam and I followed behind, stepping out onto the porch with him.

Where the road used to be, now everything was just filled with thick trees.

"Wasn't there a street out here?" Sam asked.

"There was." Dean nodded. I looked around, noticing a flowerpot knocked over and stood it upright. Suddenly, the trees cleared, and the sunlight shined down on us. I looked around in shock, knowing exactly where we were. "Uh, Tori?"

"Yeah?" I asked, glancing back at Dean, who just nodded down. I looked to what I was wearing, my eyes widening at the Christmas-style PJ's I sported. "Oh my god. I can't believe this."

"Believe what? Where are we?"

"My house in Indiana. I was twelve, it was Christmas." I smiled, looking around, tears forming in my eyes as Rose approached, carrying groceries in her hands.

"Hi sweetie." She smiled at me, making her way inside.

"Damn." Dean mumbled, watching her pass.

I smacked him on the back of the head, narrowing my eyes. "That's so inappropriate, Dean."

"Sorry."

Following Rose inside, I watched as she placed the bags on the table, putting the produce away. "I got some icing for the cookies."

"Great." I nodded, leaning down on the counter.

"Quick, what's cookie in Spanish?"

"Uh... _g_ _alleta_." I said. Dean watched me, a smirk on his lips. I shook my head. "Don't get all worked up over me saying cookie, Dean."

"In Spanish? Too bad, I'm going to." He said.

I rolled my eyes, smiling at him. "That's how she taught me. It was fun."

"Good job." Rose smiled at me. "I was thinking we could get started on the sugar cookies first."

"Yeah." I muttered, just watching her, my expression turning sad.

"Tori, maybe we should head out?" Sam suggested.

"Yeah." I nodded, wiping a tear of my cheek. "Let's go."

Dean wrapped an arm around me, pulling me to his side, placing a kiss on my forehead before we moved down the hallway. Dean began looking around, opening closet doors, peering inside.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Looking for a road."

"In the closet?"

"We're in heaven, Tori, okay? I mean, our memories are coming true. Cas is on TV. Finding a road in a closet would be pretty much the most normal thing to happen to us today." Dean said, something catching his eye. I watched as he bent down, picking up the small blue car. "I used to have one of these…when I was a kid."

Dean placed the car back on it's plastic track, the entire scene changing around us to a young boys room. I looked down, seeing that I was back wearing my normal clothes, Sam too. Dean, on the other hand was wearing a pair of light blue jeans, a plaid shirt, and sneakers, one of them untied.

"That was the road?" Sam asked.

"I guess." Dean shrugged, standing up, looking around the room. "Kind of trippy, right?"

It was then that I noticed the shirt he was wearing, smiling at him. "Yeah. And apparently, you _wuv hugs_."

Dean glanced down to the small cartoon bear on his blue shirt, quickly covering it up with the flannel button up he was wearing. "Shut up."

"What? It's cute. I know for a fact that you do _wuv hugs_."

Dean ignored me, looking around the room. "Wait a minute. I know where we are."

"Where?" Sam asked.

"We're home."

"Home?"

"Dean." A female voice called. Mary appeared in the doorway, smiling at Dean. "Hey, you hungry?" All of us just stared, not knowing what to do. Mary came over, gently guiding Dean into the kitchen where he sat at the table, looking up at her as she placed a sandwich in front of him. "You want the crust cut off?"

"Yeah. I'd love that." Dean smiled at her.

"Mom?" Sam called. She didn't acknowledge him, continuing to cut the crust off of Dean's sandwich.

"I guess this isn't your memory, Sam. Sorry."

"Dean, we should… go. Keep looking for the road."

"Just- just give me a minute, okay?"

"Dean-"

"Sam." I called, shooting Sam a look. I know this was hard for him, but Dean should have his moment. Sam nodded reluctantly. I wrapped an arm through his, leaning my head on the side of his shoulder.

Mary ruffled Dean's hair, going to answer the ringing phone. "Hello? No. John. We're not having this conversation again. Think about what? You've got two boys at home."

"I remember this." Dean said. "Mom and Dad were fighting and then he moved out for a couple days."

"Dad always said they had the perfect marriage." Sam muttered.

"It wasn't perfect until after she died."

"Fine. Then don't- there's nothing more to talk about." Mary said, hanging up, sniffling as though she was fighting back tears.

"What happens next?" Sam asked.

Without a word, Dean got up, hugging Mary. "It's okay, Mom. Dad still loves you. I love you, too. I'll never leave you."

I felt tears spring to my eyes as I watched Dean interact with his mother. She cupped his cheek in her hands, smiling at him. "You are my little angel. How about some pie?"

Once Mary let go of Dean, he made his way back over to us, a sad look in his eyes.

"I never realized how long you've been cleaning up Dad's messes." Sam commented sadly.

"Let's keep moving." Dean said, frowning. I caught his arm as he began to move away.

"You're so sweet, you know that?" I asked. He just shook his head, letting out a sigh. I reached up, placing a kiss on his cheek, looking into his eyes. "You are."

A small smile nearly spread across his lips before he turned away and we kept going through the house, opening cupboards and drawers. I opened one of the doors that lead to a bedroom, and noticing the darkness of it, I called the boys over.

We all stepped through and into a motel room. I looked down at myself, immediately recognizing the lingerie I was wearing. Dean looked over at me raising an eyebrow, a questioning look in his eyes. Sam seemed a bit apprehensive, looking a little scared as I opened the door.

"Is this what I think it is?" Dean asked from behind me, a smirk on his face.

I glanced back at him, smiling. "It is. But where are we?"

"Here."

"You think we- you think we get to act it out, together?" I asked, glancing up at him.

Dean shrugged. "Worth a shot isn't it?"

"I'd say so." I smiled as Dean pulled me to him.

"God, you're beautiful."

"Thanks." I murmured as Dean slid his hands down my sides, beginning to place kisses on my neck.

"Okay, we're done." Sam said, beginning to look through every drawer in the room.

"So our first time is one of your best memories?" Dean asked with a smirk.

"Uh, yeah." I said obviously, trying not to get distracted by his lips on my skin. "Jesus Christ, you can kiss." I murmured breathlessly as he led me over to the bed, sitting down so he could slowly start to undo the lace buttons on the front.

"Oh, my fucking god." Sam muttered, looking through things faster. "Please don't make me watch you guys screw. Please. I'm begging."

"I can't believe I get an entire night alone with you." Dean murmured against my skin.

"Me either." I replied, running a hand through his hair, remembering the happiness I felt at finally getting to be with him.

"Oh, this is when you say it." Dean muttered, breaking away from our memory _script._

I chuckled, biting my lip. "I have a question..."

"Yeah?"

"How comfortable would you be doing this...without a condom?"

Dean froze, that look of pure shock and excitement on his face just like all those years ago. "What?"

"Yeah."

"A- well- I mean- I- I've actually never- with- without-"

"Me either."

"Oh, god, guys please." Sam practically whined, pulling up a piece of paper, letting out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god. I've seen this somewhere before."

"Where?" Dean asked as the room shifted around us again. The motel was gone, along with the lingerie I was wearing. I was now back in my old clothes, and so was Dean. "Where are we?"

"No way." Sam breathed as a golden retriever ran into the room. Sam bent down, excitedly petting the dog. "Bones! Hey!"

"Bones?"

"Yeah. Bones was my dog."

"Your dog?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as Sam sat down on the couch, pulling out a slice of pizza. Bones jumped right up next to him, tail wagging. Dean looked around, unhappy. I did the same, knowing exactly where this was.

"Is this Flagstaff?" Dean asked.

"Yeah."

"This is a good memory for you?"

"Yeah. I mean, I was on my own for two weeks. I lived on Funyuns and Mr. Pibb." Sam laughed, feeding bones some of his pizza.

"Wow."

"Well, you don't remember, do you? You ran away on my watch. Tori and I, we looked everywhere for you. Thought you were dead. And when Dad came home…" Dean paused, looking away, the bad memories flooding in.

I'm not sure I'd ever seen John so livid. It was honestly terrifying, the way he screamed at Dean.

"Look, I'm sorry. I never thought about it like that."

"Forget it. Let's roll." Dean said, striding out of the room. I watched Sam give Bones a final pat on the head before turning and following Dean, who was now upset.

As Sam stepped out after us, the scene changed again and we were in the road in front of an old motel. I glanced back at Sam in question, part of this place seeming familiar to me. Sam quickly looked away, not meeting mine or his brother's eyes.

"What memory is this?" Dean asked.

"No idea." Sam lied. "Alright, come on. Road. God. Remember?"

"Wait a minute. This- this is the night you ditched us for Stanford, isn't it? This is your idea of heaven? Wow." Dean laughed painfully. "This was one of the worst nights of my life. I mean between you going and her telling you it was okay-"

"Dean." I muttered, looking at him sadly, shaking my head. "Don't do that."

"Do what?" Dean asked, looking to his brother. "I mean, seriously, this is a happy memory for you?"

"I don't know. I mean, I was on my own." Sam tried to explain. "I finally got away from Dad."

"Yeah, he wasn't the only one you got away from."

"Dean, I'm sorry. I just-"

"I know. You didn't think of it like that."

"Dean."

"Your heaven is somebody else's Thanksgiving. Okay. It's bailing on your family. What do you want me to say?"

"Man, I never got the crusts cut off my PB & J." Sam said to Dean, looking over to me. "I never got to play around outside with parents and friends. I just don't look at family the way you do."

"Yeah, but we're your family."

"I know."

"I mean, we're supposed to be a team. It's supposed to be us against the world, right?"

"Think we can argue some other time, huh?" I asked, pulling their arms back, nodding to the searchlight that had begun shining again.

We took off, running towards the trees at the side of the road for protection, hiding behind a large log. My breathing came out hard and uneven, trying to quiet that down as we listened for the footsteps after us.

"Running from angels. On foot. In heaven. With out-of-the-box thinking like that I'm surprised you three haven't stopped the Apocalypse already." Zachariah said and in the blink of an eye, it was daytime. "What's the problem? I just want to send you back to Earth, that's all. I mean, that is, after I tear you a cosmos of new ones. You're on my turf now. And by the time I get through with you, you're going to be begging to say yes."

The boys and I shared a look, taking off in the opposite direction that Zachariah was, stopping dead in our tracks when he appeared in front of us. "Guys, come on. You can run but you can't run."

We turned on our heels, running back the way we came, stopping when we were confronted by a figure in a colorful mask and gold cape. He lifted a finger to his mouth, silently telling us to keep quiet. We shared a look, figuring we had nothing left to lose, and following the figure down to an old wooden shack.

He scribbled some symbols on the rusted door, opening it and running inside. The three of us followed into the dimly lit room that seemed much larger than it should've be based on the outside.

"Buenos dias, bitches." The man said, taking off the mask and cape to reveal who he was.

"Ash?" Dean asked.

Ash clapped his hands twice, illuminating the room. "Welcome to my blue heaven."

My breath left my lungs in one big gasp when I realized where we were. The Roadhouse.

"Good God, the Roadhouse." Dean muttered. "It even smells the same."

"Bud, blood and beer nuts. It's the best smell in the world. How about a cold one? Up here? No hangover." Ash said walking behind the bar. We followed, sitting at a couple of the stools.

"So...no offense..." Sam trailed off.

"How did a dirt bag like me end up in a place like this? I've been saved, man. I was my congregation's number one snake handler."

"And you said this was your heaven?"

"Yup. My own… personal…" Ash stopped, shotgunning a glass of beer, letting out a burp when he was done. I couldn't help but smile. God, I missed him.

"And when the angel jumped us, we were..."

"In your heaven."

"So there are two heavens?"

"No. More like a hundred billion. So, no worries, it'll take those angels boys a minute to catch up."

"What?" Dean asked, confused.

"See, you gotta stop thinking of heaven as one place. It's more like a butt-load of places all crammed together. Like Disneyland except without all the anti-Semitism."

"What?" I asked, not getting it.

"Yeah. See you got Winchesterland. Ashland. A whole mess of everybody-else-lands. Put them all together, heaven. Right? At the center of it all, is the Magic Kingdom. The Garden."

"So everybody gets a little slice of paradise."

"Pretty much. A few people share – special cases. What not."

"What do you mean _special_?" Dean asked.

"Aw, you know. Like, uh, soul-mates." Ash said, looking between Dean and I with a smirk, shooting a wink at us. "Anyway. Most people can't leave their own private Idaho's."

"But you ain't most people."

"Nope. They ain't got my skills. Hell, I've been all over. Johnny Cash. André the Giant. Einstein. Sam, that man can mix a White Russian. Hell, the other day? I found Mallanāga Vātsyāyana."

"Who?" Sam asked.

"He wrote the Kama Sutra. That boy's heaven? Sweaty. Confusing."

"All this from a guy who used to sleep on a pool table." Dean mumbled.

"Yeah. Now that I'm dead, I'm living, man, a whole lot more."

"How did you find us?" I asked.

"I rigged up my very own holy-rolling police scanner." He said, pulling up a laptop, pressing a button on it. The sound of high-pitched tones began playing though the speakers.

"That's angels."

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"I, uh, I've heard it a few times." I said, gaining a strange look from him ."A lots happened since you've been gone."

"So you hear angels?" He asked, to which I nodded. Ash smiled, holding up a hand for me to high-five. "Sick!"

"Yeah, it's...sick _ening_."

"So you speak Enochian?"

"No."

"I do. I'm fluent. I heard that you were up. Of course I had to come find you. Again."

"Again?"

"Again?" Dean asked, surprised.

"This ain't the first time here. I mean, you guys die more than anyone I've ever met."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You don't remember. Angels. Must've Windexed your brain."

"So, uh, I mean have you found anybody else?" Sam asked. "Ellen and Jo?"

SAM: So, uh. I mean, have you found anybody else? Ellen and Jo?

"Ellen and Jo are dead?" Ash asked, taken aback, looking for answers.

Both Dean and I didn't answer, leaving Sam to. "Uh, yeah. Yeah. A few months now. Sorry."

"They went down fighting?"

"Til the end."

"And a lot of good it did." I mumbled bitterly.

"How about our folks?" Dean asked, changing the subject.

"I've been looking all over for John Winchester. Mary too, but so far, nada. I even looked for Rose and Peter Evans. Didn't find them either. I'm sorry." Ash said, catching me off guard. I was about to ask him how he ever knew of them when his eyes lit up. "But hey! There is somebody that wants to jaw with you. Hold up."

Ash made his way into the back room, taking a moment there before he returned, a familiar brunette with him.

"Pam!" I smiled, standing up.

"Nice to see you again." She said, pointing to her eyes. "You know, now that I actually _can_ see."

With that, she went behind the bar, grabbing a beer before making her way over to one of the tables, sitting down. I went and sat down across from her, Dean siting next to me.

After putting her beer down, Pamela reached across the table, smacking the both of us on the head. "That's for getting me killed."

"That's probably less than we deserve." I sighed.

"Makes you feel any better, we got Ash killed too." Dean added.

Ash raised his hands in devil horns, snapping his fingers. "I'm cool with it."

"He's cool with it."

"How are you?" I asked cautiously.

"I'm good." Pam nodded. I raised an eyebrow, looking at her incredulously. "No, really. My heaven? It is one long show at the Meadowlands. It's amazing! You should see it."

"Spending eternity trapped in your own little universe while the angels run the show, that's lonely. You know? That's not Nirvana." Dean said. "That's the Matrix."

"I don't know. Attic's still better than the basement."

"Yeah but, you know this place feels real, but it's Memorex. Real is down there."

"Yeah, well, close enough. Look, Dean, I'm happy. I'm at peace."

"Are you trying to sell a time share? I mean, what's with the pitch?"

"I know that Michael wants to take you out for a test drive."

"Pamela-"

"Just saying. What happens if you play ball with them? Worst case."

"A lot of people die. Dean, too." I said.

"And then they come here. Is that really so bad?"

"What about the ones who got to hell?"

"Listen, Tori, I know you're whole deal, too."

"You do?"

"All I'm saying is, maybe you don't have to fight it so hard. You end up here." She said to Dean before looking to me. "You get power, you can visit him whenever. That's all I'm trying to say."

I felt my stomach churn at the thought, looking over to Dean to see a look in his eyes that told me something I never wanted to believe….was he considering this?

"Hey! Found a short cut to the Garden." Sam announced, turning to face us, stopping our conversation.

"All Access Pass to the Magic Kingdom." Ash said.

"Good." Dean nodded, catching the look Ash gave. "Not good?"

"That Zachary fella's going to be watching every road to the Garden."

"We still have to try." I said, standing up.

After letting go of Sam, Pamela pulled Dean in for a hug, then stepped in front of me, pulling me in for a hug. I hugged her back, taking a deep breath before breaking away, going back to Sam and Dean. away from the guys.

"I don't mean to be a downer or anything but...I'm sure I'll see you again soon." Ash muttered.

"Well, keep a sixer on ice for us." Dean said.

"Yeah." Ash nodded, opening the door for us.

We exited the Roadhouse, entering an empty, dark room. A loud train whistle sounded in the distance, barely any light shining through the windows.

"What the- why are we back home?" Dean asked.

"I don't know." Sam shrugged. "What are we going to do?"

"Keep looking for the road again, I guess."

"Honey, why are you up?" Mary asked, appearing behind Dean.

"Look, I'm- I'm sorry. I love you but you're not real and we don't have time-"

"Did you have another nightmare? Tell me."

"I gotta go."

"Then how about I tell you my nightmare, Dean? The night I burned." Mary said, her voice suddenly full of acid as the front of her nightgown flooded with blood.

"Let's get out of here." Dean said, his voice shaky.

"Don't you walk away from me. I never loved you. You were my burden. I was shackled to you. Look what it got me." Mary hissed, her eyes turning bright yellow. Dean was frozen in place, staring into her eyes.

"Dean? Dean!?" I called, finally getting his attention. He turned to me, looking devastated. The lights in the house began to change color, giving the room a green hue. Mary blinked, her blue eyes coming back.

"The worst was the smell. The pain, well, what can you say about your skin bubbling off? But the smell was so…you know, for a second I thought I'd left a pot roast burning in the oven. But it was my meat."

Dean did his best to ignore her, going to the walls where the doors once sat, looking them over as Mary continued. "And then, finally, I was dead. The one silver lining was that at least I was away from you. Everybody leaves you, Dean. You noticed? Mommy. Daddy. Even Sam. Won't be long before Tori does, too. And by then, oh, by then you'll be done for. You ever ask yourself why? Maybe it's not them. Maybe, it's you."

"Don't you dare." I spat through gritted teeth, taking a step towards her. "Don't you dare say any of that to him."

"Easy now, kitten." Zachariah said, appearing behind Mary. "You always get so defensive when it comes to Dean. What about yourself?"

With a snap of his fingers, Rose appeared in front of me, blood dripped from the stab wound in her stomach. "You don't know how many times, how many nights I stayed awake, wishing I never took you. You gave me nothing but pain, and in the end of it all, you killed me."

Tears formed in my eyes as I watched her, the amount of evil on her face something I'd never experienced from Rose before. She was nothing but loving and caring. This wasn't her, it never could be.

"That's not true, Tori." Dean said, stepping closer to me.

"I know it's not." I said, looking to Zachariah. "You did this."

"And I'm just getting started. I mean, guys. Did you really think you could just sneak past me into Mission Control?"

"You son of a bitch." Sam spat. Three angels appeared behind Sam, Dean and I, holding us in place easily no matter how much we struggled.

"You know, I'd say the same thing about you, Sam, but I have actually grown quite fond of your mother. Or at least the Blessed Memory of her." Zachariah said, moving Mary's hair back, kissing her neck. He smiled at Rose, kissing her jaw. "I think we're going to be logging a lot of quality time together, the three of us."

"You can gloat all you want, you dick, you're still bald." Dean said.

"In heaven, I have six wings and four faces, one of whom is a lion."

"And you're still an ugly piece of shit." I hissed. In an instantly Zachariah was in front of me, a hand on my throat.

"Don't touch her!" Dean shouted.

"You better watch your tone with me." He threatened, tightening his grip. "I'm in control of you now."

"No, you're not. You never will be."

"Oh, yeah?" Zachariah asked, stepping in front of Dean, punching him so hard in the stomach that he spat up blood. "And I'm going to do a lot more than that. I've cleared my schedule."

Zachariah punched Dean again, this time sending him to the ground in pain. The bigger angel picked Dean up again so Zachariah could land another punch to his stomach.

"Let me tell you something. I was on the fast track once. Employee of the month, every month, forever. I would walk these halls and people would avert their eyes! I had respect! And then they assigned me you. Now look at me. I can't close the deal on some flannel-wearing maggots?" He asked, grabbing Dean's collar as the house began to shake violently. "Everybody's laughing at me…and they're right to do it. So, say yes, don't say yes. I'm still going to take it out of your asses. It's personal now, and the last person in the history of creation you want as your enemy is me. And I'll tell you why. Lucifer may be strong, but I'm petty. I'm going to be the angel on your shoulder for the rest of eternity."

Suddenly, the ringing in my ears got much louder, and I looked past Zachariah to see an older man standing there. "Excuse me, sir?"

"I'm in a meeting."

"I'm sorry. I need to speak to those three."

"Excuse me?" Zachariah asked, looking back at him in shock.

"It's a bad time, I know, but I'm afraid I have to insist."

"You don't get to insist jack-squat."

"No, you're right. But the boss does. His orders."

"...you're lying."

"I wouldn't lie about this. Look, fire me if you want. Sooner or later, he's going to come back home and you know how he is with that whole wrath thing."

Zachariah looked at the three of us, glancing back to the other angel and in a flutter of wings, he and his goonies were gone. The boys and I immediately moved closer to each other, staring at the unfamiliar face.

All of a sudden, we were in a beautiful, vibrant, green garden – a conservatory – surrounded by sounds of a forest.

"This is heaven's Garden?" I asked.

"It's-it's nice… ish. I guess." Dean mumbled, looking around.

"You see what you want to here. For some it's God's throne room, for others it's Eden. You three, I believe it's the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. You came here on a field trip."

"You're Joshua." I muttered.

"I'm Joshua."

"So you talk to God?"

"Mostly, He talks to me."

"Well, we need to speak to Him." Sam said. "It's important."

"Where is he?" Dean asked.

"On Earth." Joshua replied.

"Doing what?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know where on Earth?" I asked.

"No, sorry. We don't exactly speak face-to-face."

Dean shook his head. "I- I don't get it. God's not talking to nobody so…

"Why's he talking to me? I sometimes think it's because I can sympathize—gardener to gardener—and, between us, I think he gets lonely."

"Well, my heart's breaking for him."

"Can you at least get him a message for us?" Sam asked.

"Actually, he has a message for you. Back off."

"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He knows already. Everything you want to tell him."

"But-"

"He knows what the angels are doing. He knows that the Apocalypse has begun. He just doesn't think it's his problem."

"Not his problem?" Dean asked incredulously.

"God saved you already. He put you on that plane. He brought back Castiel. He granted you salvation in heaven-" Joshua paused, looking to Sam. "And after everything you've done too. It's more than he's intervened in a long time. He's finished. Magic amulet or not, you won't be able to find him."

"But he can stop it. He can stop all of it."

"I suppose he could, but he won't."

"Why not?"

"Why does he allow evil in the first place? You could drive yourself nuts asking questions like that."

"So he's just going to sit back and watch the world burn?" Dean asked.

"I know how important this was to you, Dean. I'm sorry."

"Forget it. Just another dead-beat dad with a bunch of excuses, right. I'm used to that. I'll muddle through."

"Except...you don't know if you can, this time. You can't kill the Devil, and you're losing faith, in yourself, your brother, your love, and now this? God was your last hope. I just… I wish I could tell you something different." Joshua said. I looked over at Dean, watching his entire expression change to one of depression and sadness.

"How do we even know you're telling the truth?" I asked Joshua.

"You think that I would lie?"

"You're not the first angel we've met. Angels lie."

"I'm rooting for you kids! I wish I could do more to help you, I do! But... I just trim the hedges."

"So what now?" Dean asked, his voice monotone.

"You go home again. I'm afraid this time, won't be like the last. This time, God wants you to remember."

In the blink of an eye, the boys were gone and I was left standing alone with Joshua.

* * *

DPOV

My eyes fluttered open, seeing the ceiling. To be perfectly honest, I didn't even want to move. Was there even a point to this anymore? Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Tori hadn't moved. I placed a finger on her neck, not feeling a pulse.

"Tori?"

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, looking over.

"Tori, baby?" I called, looking at her with scared eyes. Why didn't she come back?

* * *

TPOV

"What did you do that for?" I asked. "Where are Sam and Dean?"

"They're back safe and sound."

"Why am I still here?"

"Victoria, I know what I said has upset you-"

"Damn right. God doesn't give a shit. Am I supposed to be okay with that?"

"I suppose not."

"I can't- I can't give up. I can't watch my family die." I muttered, tears forming in my eyes. "I won't let that happen."

"How much control do you have? Over everything?"

"None."

"If you have no control, what will you do to stop it?"

"...anything I have to."

"Then I have something to give you." Joshua said, reaching into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small bottle. I stared at it in awe, the white and blue smoke circling around inside.

"Is that-"

"Camael's grace. Yes."

"Are you- if I said yes, if- if I took it, could I stop Sam and Dean from saying yes to Michael and Lucifer?"

"I don't know."

"Oh, wow. Thanks a lot."

Joshua pulled out a small wooden box, placing the vial inside, locking it before handing it to me. "Keep this with you."

"And do what with it?"

"In this box, no one will know you have it. Not Lucifer, not Michael. No one. Only you and me." Joshua said, placing a hand on my forehead, immedtaily inscribing something into my brain. "You will never forget that. And when you want to open it, recite those words."

" _When_?"

"When." Joshua nodded.

"You know more than you're letting on, don't you?"

"This world will end one way or another. You make the decision _how_." Joshua said, placing a hand on my forehead.

Letting out a big gasp, I woke up back on the bed, seeing Dean leaning over me, the scared look in his eyes quickly changing to one of relief. "Oh god. You're okay."

"Yeah, I- I'm fine." I mumbled against his shoulder. I moved slightly feeling the box in my jacket pocket.

Dean got up, making a call to Cas, who was here in no time, looking forlorn as we explained everything.

"Maybe Joshua was lying." He suggested.

"I don't think he was, Cas. I'm sorry." Sam sighed. Castiel looked up to the sky, shaking his head.

"You son of a bitch. I believed..." The angel trailed off, pulling the amulet from his pocket, handing it to Dean. "I don't need this anymore. It's worthless."

"Cas, wait." I called, seeing him disappear. I moved over to Dean, who was staring down at the amulet. "We'll find another way. We can stop this, Dean."

"How?" Dean asked, looking up at me with upset eyes.

"We'll find it. All of us together, we'll find it."

Dean barely met my eyes, a disbelieving look on his face as he picked up the bag he'd packed and walked towards the door without saying anything. At the door, Dean paused, dropping the amulet in the trash. A sad look crossed Sam's face as he watched his brother for a moment before slinging his own bag over his shoulder, exiting the room.

I made my way over to the trash bin, plucking the amulet from it, running a finger across the face of it, placing it in my back pocket.

They didn't ever have to know, but I'd already made my decision. I'd do whatever I had to do to protect my boys and keep them safe. They weren't going to get hurt, or say yes, not if I could stop it.

With a determined breath, I placed a hand on the box inside my jacket pocket, making sure it was secure.

Maybe God didn't want to do anything about this, but that didn't mean I should give up. And just because I took the grace doesn't mean I have to side with anyone, right? Not in my book, it doesn't. The only thing the grace will give me is power.

So how much control do I have?

Well, depends on if I'm graceless...or not.

* * *

 **:O**

 **We only have six more chapters left until the end of _The Forgotten_! Please tell me how the hell that happened so fast...  
**

 **Thanks to _Ladysunshine6_ for helping with this chapter! And thanks for reading! You guys are awesome. I hope you're all liking the story so far.  
**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction**


	19. 99 Problems

_Well, do you ever feel like dying?  
Give it any thought  
Who cares for you?  
We're all fucked up without trying  
Do what we gotta do to make it through  
Sell your love to the modern day  
Hold your bible, hold your head_

… _._

 _Who am I kidding?  
It's all my fault, now  
And I've got to do everything, everything  
To get it back, back  
You've got me away in your shadow  
Hold your bible, hold your head_

 _We're suicidal  
Come on and raise your bible  
And we'll laugh like idiots  
Laugh like idiots together _

_Oh, I can be a stranger, a stranger  
Oh, I can be  
I can be, I can be what you want  
I won't be like you  
Gotta feel like something is worth it, is worth it  
And I know you are  
I know you are_

 _We're suicidal  
We're suicidal  
Come on and raise your bible _

_Run and throw my life away  
I wake up to another day  
Run and throw my life away  
I wake up to another day  
Run and throw my life away  
I wake up to another day  
Run and throw my life away_

 _ **Dead Sara – Suicidal**_

* * *

The building burned in front of us, flames rising from every corner of it. We quickly jumped in the car, Dean threw in it drive, but before he could get us away, three demons ran over, pulling each of us out of the windows. I fought back, holding onto the inside of car so they couldn't pull me out all the way. I just about felt like my arms were going to tear off when I heard the static of a megaphone followed by a man reciting something in Enochian.

Almost as fast as it happened, the demons let go of us, their smoke flying out of their hosts and down into the ground. The boys and I shared a confused and shocked look, slowly getting out of the car.

A man stood on the top of a large truck, a few other people around him. "You three alright?"

"Peachy." Dean mumbled.

"Be careful. It's…dangerous around here." He said, about to leave.

"Whoa, wait."

"No need to thank me."

"No, hold up a sec! Who are you?"

"We're the Sacrament Lutheran Militia."

"The what?" I asked.

"I hate to tell you this, but those were demons and this is the Apocalypse. So…buckle up."

"looks like we're in the same line of business." Sam said.

"And among colleagues, that's a police-issued shotgun. That truck is, uh…inspired. Where'd you guys pick up all this crap?" Dean asked.

"You know you pick things up along the way." Another man said.

"Guys, come on. This whole corner of the state is nuts with demon omens. We just want to help. That's all."

"We're on the same team, here." I said.

The men shared a look before Rob nodded. "Follow us."

* * *

As we entered the small town, I felt my stomach react violently, turning over inside of me. I pulled in a steady breath, keeping my eyes pealed for anything suspicious. At this point, I was never sure anymore if I got this feeling for a reason, or because Lucifer really liked to mess with me.

Speaking of Lucifer, ever since we got back from heaven...I've been hearing him again. It's more and more terrifying every time, not matter how much I try to ignore it.

"Who would have thought the Apocalypse could be so romantic? Marriage, family—it's a blessing. Especially in times like this. So hold on to that." Pastor Gideon said, leading us to a beautiful church.

"Weddings? Seriously?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Dean glanced over at me, a strange look in his eyes as I scoffed.

"We've had eight so far this week. So Rob tells me you kids hunt demons."

"Yes, sir." Sam nodded.

"You missed a few."

"Yeah. Tell us about it. Any idea why they're here?"

"No. They sure seem to like us, though." He said, beginning to walk into building.

"So you're a preacher?" Dean asked.

"Not what you expected, huh?"

"Well, dude, you're packing."

"Strange times."

"I'll say." I mumbled as the Pastor led us down to the church basement.

"Is that a twelve-year-old packing salt rounds?" Dean asked, looking over at the kid, who was doing just that.

The pastor nodded. "Everybody pitches in."

"So, the whole church?" Sam asked.

"The whole town."

"A whole town full of hunters." Dean muttered, glancing over at me. "I don't know whether to run screaming or buy a condo."

"Run screaming." I mumbled.

"The demons were killing us. We had to do something." Pastor Gideon said.

"So why not call the National Guard?" Sam asked.

"We were told not to."

"By who?"

The Pastor remained silent. Dean let out a breath. "Come on, Padre. You're as locked and loaded as we've ever seen. And that exorcism was Enochian. Someone's telling you something."

"Look, I'm sorry, I, uh, I can't discuss it."

"Dad, it's okay." A blonde muttered, walking over to us.

"Leah-"

"It's Victoria Anderson. And Sam and Dean Winchester. They're safe. I know all about them."

"You do?" I asked.

"Sure. From the angels."

"The angels? Great."

"Don't worry. They can't see you here. The…marks on your ribs, right?"

"So you know all of this because the angels told you?" I asked, getting a weird vibe from her.

"Yes. Among other things."

Dean nodded. "Like the snappy little exorcism spell."

"And they show me where the demons are going to be, before it happens. How to fight back."

"Never been wrong." Pastor Gideon smiled. "Not once. She's very special."

"And let me guess, before you see something, you get a really bad migraine, you see flashing lights?" Dean asked.

"How'd you know?"

"'Cause you're not the first prophet we've met."

"Oh. I'm a- a prophet?"

"Probably." I muttered. "Excuse me."

As I went back to the stairs, I could feel Dean's eyes on me, but ignored them. A few of the people in the church watched me as I passed, making my way outside into the fresh air, instantly feeling better. There was something about being down there that just made me feel...uneasy.

With a sigh, I pulled out my phone, dialing Cas's number, hearing his voicemail pick up. " _I don't understand-_ "

" _S_ ay your name, Cas." I said in the background.

" _Why do you want me to say my name?_ " Castiel asked, beginning to press a bunch of buttons.

After the beep, I left my voicemail. "Hey, Cas. We're in Blue Earth Minnesota. I think we could use a little help here. I hope you get this. Come as soon as you can, please. Something is- something is...wrong. And Dean-"

"Tor?" Dean called, startling me. I jumped, turning around to face him.

"Yeah?"

"What's up?"

"Nothing."

"You called Cas?"

"Yeah. I think we need some help here."

"Did he answer?"

"No I left a message. The chances of him actually listening to it, however...well, I'm not getting my hopes up for that."

"How do you-"

"So, you have a theory about what's going on here?" I asked, ignoring his question. "Why all the demons?"

"I don't know." Dean shrugged. "Gank the girl? The prophet, maybe?"

"Something's just weird here."

"Like demon-sense kind of weird?"

"Yeah. A little. I know the angels don't care, but they're sending people, _humans_ , to do their dirty work."

"Yeah. And?"

"They could get ripped to shreds. Also not be successful."

"We're all gonna die, Tori. In like a month, maybe two. I mean it. This is the end of the world, but these people aren't freaking out. In fact they're running to the exit in an orderly fashion. I don't know that that's such a bad thing."

"Who says they're all gonna die?"

"Come on, Tor." Dean mumbled, looking drained.

As I looked into his eyes, I I saw the same calculating look that was in mine. He was going to do something. I didn't know what, and I didn't know when. All I knew was I had to stay sharp and make sure I was faster at saying yes.

The church bells rang and the two of us went back inside, looking around in question. "What's going on?"

"Leah's had another vision." Paul said. Sam came over to us, the three of us standing together as Leah began whispering what she'd seen to her father.

"Five miles off Talmadge Road. There are demons gathered. I…don't know how many, but a lot. Thank you, Leah." Pastor Gideon nodded to his daughter before addressing the crowd. "So, who's going to join me?"

"Wouldn't miss it." Ron said.

"Someone's got to cover Rob's ass." Paul added with a grin.

"We're in, Padre." Dean called, volunteering us.

"Thank you. I'd like to offer a prayer. _Our Father in Heaven_ -"

Without even knowing what the other was about to do, both Dean and I turned and exited the church. Sam stayed inside, however, watching us as we left.

* * *

 **WOODS – DAY**

After the Pastor told everyone what to do, we'd all taken down the group of demons in a very smooth fashion. Something I was most definitely not used to. The boys and I walked away from the house where all the demons had been, moving towards the less dense part of the trees.

"I guess that's what it's like, huh?" Sam asked, looking to Dean and I.

"What?" Dean asked

"Having backup."

"Guys?" Dylan, Rob and Jane's son, called, running over to us.

"Hey."

"So, um, is- is that- is that cool that I get a ride back with you guys?"

"Hey, you've saved my ass twice already. One more time, you can drive." Dean said. "Want to get a beer?"

"Oh, I don't know-"

"Hey, you earned it. Don't tell your mom."

"Oh, believe me, I will not."

Suddenly, a demon broke through the trees, pulling Dylan back, stabbing him in the neck with a knife.

* * *

Back at the church, that ringing in my ears slowly started to climb to the forefront as I sat down in one of the pews, playing Dylan's death over and over again.

" _You know...if you were stronger, you could've saved him."_ The voice spoke, grating on my mind.

"You know…this is your fault." Jane muttered, looking to the three of us with tear-filled eyes.

" _Everything usually is..._ "

"I wish I knew what to say. But I don't. I'm so sorry, Jane, Rob. There are no words. Dylan… I don't know why this happened. I don't know why any of this is happening. I got no easy answers. But what I do know is-" The Pastor stopped, looking over to his daughter as she collapsed onto the ground. "Leah, honey? Leah, honey? Honey?"

"Dad, it's Dylan." Leah mumbled. "Dylan's coming back."

"What?" Jane asked.

"It's going to be okay. You'll see Dylan again. When the final day comes, Judgment Day, he'll be resurrected and you'll be together again. We'll all be together. With all our loved ones. We've been chosen. The angels have chosen us. And we will be given paradise on earth. All we have to do is follow the angels' commandments."

* * *

Back outside of the church, the sun was beginning to set in the sky, creating orange and pink wisps of clouds.

"No drinking, no gambling, no premarital sex." Sam listed the few things the Pastor had just banned, glancing over to Dean and I. "They basically just outlawed ninety percent of your personalities."

"Yeah, well, whatever." Dean shrugged. "When in Rome."

"Well, it's not like you're planning on staying here until the world ends. Right?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know."

"You don't know? What the hell does that mean?"

"Means _I don't know_."

"That's stupid."

"Thanks."

"I'm just saying. No more sex, no more drinking? You can do that?"

"Look, I'm not a prophet. We're not locals. It's not my call." Dean said, looking up to me. "And they didn't say _no_ sex, they said no _pre-marital_ sex. Which means we could still work something out."

"And we'd have to get married to do it."

"Well." Dean shrugged. I looked back at him, letting out a sigh, shaking my head before walking down the steps and away from the church.

I loved Dean with all my heart. I wanted to marry him, but not like this, not because of this.

* * *

DPOV

As I watched Tori go, I felt an ache inside my heart. Something was wrong with her, something she wasn't telling me. Though I'm sure she could say the same about me.

I didn't know what to think anymore, what to feel. I just wanted to give up. I wanted all of this bullshit to be over with. I was tried of dealing with it every day.

"I'm gonna head to the motel." Sam muttered.

"Yeah. I'll catch up with you later." I said, heading back inside the church, finding my way into the office where Leah sat, going through some papers. "Bad time?"

"In general." She said, glancing up at me. "Now's okay."

"Angel stuff really takes it out of you, huh?"

"Can't complain. I know you have it worse. So…what's on your mind, Dean?"

"Don't take this the wrong way but…are you on the level?"

"About what?"

"About paradise."

"What about it?"

"I want to know what the angels are telling you. Everything."

"Well-"

"You can skip the rainbows."

"There's gonna be a prize-fight. And…it's gonna get bad. But after we win, and we will, the planet gets handed over to the chosen. And…it's finally peaceful. No monsters, no disease, no death. You're just…with the people you love."

"Of course, that's if you can get past the velvet rope. Must be nice, being chosen."

"Well, Dean…you're chosen."

"Yeah, more like cursed."

"Must be hard. Being the Vessel of Heaven and having no hope."

No, I didn't have hope. Not anymore. We'd lost. I didn't know what else to do...except for the obvious. Something I was getting closer and closer to every single day.

* * *

TPOV

Down the street from the church was the tavern, I stepped inside, seeing Paul being the only one in there, cleaning a glass behind the bar.

He looked up at me as I approached, letting out a sigh. "So much for the apocalypse being good for business. Wanna help me kill some inventory?"

"Sure." I nodded, sitting on one of the stools, watching as he poured me a glass of whiskey.

"Can't believe Leah and her angels pals banned the good stuff."

"That's the real sin." I mumbled, clinking my glass against his before downing it, savoring the feeling of the liquor burning my throat.

Paul chuckled, glancing down to the bar. "Don't get me wrong. I grew up here. I love this town, but uh, well, these holy rollers?"

"Yeah, I noticed you're not the praying type."

"Yeah, well, between you and me, neither are half those guys. A couple of months back, they're all in here, getting wasted, banging the nanny. Now they're all Warriors of God." He scoffed. "Look, there's sure as hell demons. And maybe there is a God. I don't know. Fine. But I'm not a hypocrite. I never prayed before and I ain't starting now. If I go to hell, I'm going honest. How about you?"

"What about me?"

"Not a true believe, I take it."

"I believe. I know all of it's real. My father was a Pastor." I said, gaining a shocked look from Paul. "But things have happened and, well...now, I still believe. It's all still real. God just stopped giving a shit a long, long time ago."

* * *

After drinking for a little bit more, I made my way back to the motel, getting there at the same time Dean had, the both of us finding him sitting inside on his laptop.

"Where have you been?" Dean asked me as I shut the door, pulling my jacket off.

"I went for a drink."

"You rebel."

"I would've had more, but I didn't feel like getting caught out after curfew."

"You hear they shut down the cell towers?" Sam asked. I shook my head.

"No." Dean replied.

"Yeah. No cable, internet. Total cut off."

"Hm."

"Don't you get it? They're turning this place into some kind of fundamentalist compound."

"No, I get it."

"And all you've got is a hm? What's wrong with you?"

"I just don't care." Dean shrugged, moving towards the door. "I need to clear my head."

"Dean, it's past curfew." I called. He ignored me, leaving.

"Do you really- do you really think Dean is giving up?" Sam asked me.

"I don't know, Sam." I murmured honestly, my heart breaking.

"I got your message." Cas said, appearing behind me, slurring his words. "It was long, your message. Time consuming."

"Are you drunk?" I asked, standing up to face him,

"No….yes."

"What the hell happened to you?" Sam asked.

"I found a liquor store."

"And?"

"And I drank it." Cas told him, looking to me, nearly falling over as he stepped forward. "Why'd you call me?"

I caught him, holding him upright. "Take it easy. What is going on?"

Castiel leaned in towards my ear, his voice quiet. "Don't ask stupid questions."

"Get off." I said, pushing him down onto the couch.

"Tell me what you need."

"There have been demons attacks, massive ones right on the edge of town. We can't figure out why they're-"

"You said you felt something strange."

"Yeah. It's something weird. I can't explain it."

"Any sign of angels?"

"They've been speaking to this prophet.

"Who?"

"Leah Gideon."

"She's not a prophet."

"I'm pretty sure she is." Sam interjected. "Visions, headaches—the whole package."

"The names of _all_ the prophets, they're seared into my brain."

"Your drunk brain?" I asked.

Castiel shot me a hard look. "Leah Gideon is not one of them."

"Then what is she?"

"Dangerous. Where is Dean?"

"He went out to clear his head or something." Sam said.

"We have to get him, now."

"Alright." I nodded, turning towards just door. Just as I was about to open it, Dean came in, breathless and splattered in blood. My eyes widened in worry. "Dean, are you okay?"

"It's not my blood." Dean replied. "Paul's dead. Jane shot him."

"It's starting." Castiel muttered.

"What's starting? Where the hell have you been?"

"On a bender."

"Did he-" Dean paused, looking at me before looking back to Cas. "Did you just say _on a bender_?"

"And he's still pretty smashed." I added.

"It is not of import." Cas said. "We need to talk about what's happening here."

Dean nodded. "Well I'm all ears."

"Well, for starters…Leah is not a real prophet." Sam said.

"What is she, exactly?

"The whore." Cas answered simply.

"Wow. Cas, tell us what you really think."

"She rises when Lucifer walks the earth. _And she shall come, bearing false prophecy._ This creature has the power to take a human's form, read minds. Book of Revelation calls her the Whore of Babylon."

"Well, that's catchy."

"The real Leah was probably killed months ago." Sam said.

"What about the demons attacking the town?"

"They're under her control." Castiel said.

"And the Enochian exorcism?" I asked.

"Fake. It actually means, _you breed with the mouth of a goat_." Cas said, looking at us expectantly, his face dropping slightly. "It's funnier in Enochian."

"Right." I nodded, sharing a look with Sam.

"So the demons smoking out, that's just a con?" Dean asked. "Why? What's the endgame?"

"What you just saw. Innocent blood spilled in God's name."

"You heard all of that heaven talk." Sam said. "She manipulates people."

"To slaughter and kill and sing preppy little hymns." Dean huffed. "Awesome."

"Her goal is to condemn as many souls to hell as possible. And it's…just beginning." Cas said. "She's well on her way to dragging this whole town into the pit."

"So, then, how do we go Pimp of Babylon all over this bitch?"

Castiel vanishes, reappearing moments later, placing a wooden stake on the table. "The whore can be killed with that. It's a stake made from a cypress tree in Babylon."

"Great. Let's ventilate her."

"It's not that easy."

"'Course not."

"The whore can only be killed by a true Servant of Heaven."

"Servant, like…"

"Not you. Or Victoria. Or me. Sam, of course, is an abomination. We'll have to find someone else."

"The pastor?" I suggested.

"He won't kill his daughter." Sam said.

"It's the only chance we've got."

"Alright." Cas nodded, leaving and coming back instantly with Pastor Gideon.

"What the hell was that?" Pastor Gideon asked, looking around frantically.

"He wasn't lying about the angel thing." I said, pulling out a chair. "Have a seat, Pastor, we need to have a chat."

The moment we'd finished explaining everything to the Pastor, his skin paled and he stared at the stake, unmoving. "No. She's my daughter."

"I'm sorry, but she's not." Dean said. "She's the thing that killed your daughter."

"That's impossible."

"But it's true. And deep down, you know it." Sam said. "Look, we get it, it's too much. But if you don't do this, she's going to kill a lot of people. And damn the rest to hell."

"Why does it have to be me?"

"You're a Servant of Heaven." Castiel told him.

"And you're an angel."

"Poor example of one."

* * *

After a little more convincing, we'd gotten the Pastor on board. I knew this wouldn't be easy for him, but it had to be done. And in the end, it wasn't really his daughter. Though I knew he didn't really see it that way.

Dean shut the trunk of the Impala, glancing over to me. "How you holding up?"

"Fine. You?" I asked, looking into his green eyes, knowing that when he said he was fine, he was lying.

"Fine." Dean shrugged, tossing Cas a bottle of aspirin. "Heads up."

"How many should I take?"

"You? You should probably just down the whole bottle."

"Thanks." Cas mumbled, literally downing the entire bottle of pills.

"Yeah, don't mention it. Yeah, I've been there. I'm a big expert on deadbeat dads. So, yeah, I get it. I know how you feel."

"How do you manage it?"

"On a good day, you get to kill a whore."

* * *

Sam, Dean and I waited outside of the office as Cas stepped in, grabbing Leah from behind, holding her in place so Pastor Gideon could stab her with the stake.

"Daddy! Don't hurt me!" She cried.

"Gideon, now!" Sam called.

" _Pizin noco iad."_

As the Enochian words left her lips, Cas released her, falling to the ground. Leah held out a hand, pushing the Pastor, Sam, Dean and I back, allowing her to run out of the room. As soon as she left, we ran after her, the Pastor going down the basement stairs first. Upon entering, I heard what sounded like a large group of people crying to be let of one of the storage rooms.

"Help me! He's a demon!" Leah screamed. The crowd began fighting Gideon, causing the stake to go flying out of his hands, leading somewhere with a clank "Light the kerosene."

Just as Rob pulled out his lighter, Sam tackled him to the ground, preventing him from burning a room of people alive. I charged after Leah from behind, wrapping arm arm around her neck. She grabbed my arm, throwing me in front of her on the ground.

"This is why my team's gonna win." She said to Dean, kneeling over him. "You're the great vessel? You're pathetic, self-hating, and faithless. It's the end of the world. And you're just gonna sit back and watch it happen."

Suddenly, Dean grabbed the stake pushing it into her chest. "Don't be so sure, whore."

I watched with wide eyes as her body began to shake, the stake catching on fire before exploding, leaving a burning hole where it entered. her body.

"But…I don't understand. How are we supposed to get to paradise now?" Jane asked.

"I'm sorry. Pretty sure you're headed in a different direction." Dean told her honestly, fear covering her features.

After getting Castiel and the Pastor back to the motel to recover. They both sat on the couch, holding their heads in pain.

"How's the head?" Dean asked.

"I'm seeing double." The Pastor replied. "But that may be the painkillers."

"You'll be okay."

"...no." He mumbled. I felt for him. A lot of shit happened today.

Sam came over to Dean and I, keeping his voice low. ""How did you kill her?"

"Long run of luck held out, I guess." Dean shrugged.

"Last I checked, she could only be ganked by a servant of Heaven."

"Well, what do you want me to tell you? I saw a shot. I went for it." Dean said, moving over towards the door.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"To get something from the trunk."

I watched Dean go, noting the strange look in his eyes as he left. Almost as soon as the door had shut, I looked back at Cas, silently telling him that it was time. I wouldn't let this happen.

"Dean!" I called, rushing after him, making it out just as he was about to get in the driver side of the Impala. "Dean, where are you going?"

"For a drive. I- I'll be back in a minute." Dean said, his voice breaking slightly, not meeting my eyes. Suddenly, he pulled me to him, placing a kiss on my lips, one that was a little too passionate and lingering for just a regular, _see you later_ , kiss.

I pushed out of his arms, looking up at him angrily. "Don't you dare fucking do this!"

"Do what? Tor" Dean asked, his eyes telling an entirely different story. _I'm sorry._

"You're weren't gonna do something stupid?"

"Like what?"

"Like Michael-stupid."

"Come on, Tor. Give me a break."

"No, Dean. You give me a break. This world is crumbling around us-"

"Exactly. And who's gonna save it? It was supposed to be us, but we can't do it."

"You have no faith left, you've lost it all. I get that, but you don't even believe in your family anymore?"

"According to someone who _talks to God_. You believe that guy?"

"You seemed to believe him when he said God didn't care anymore."

"Because it's pretty apparent that he doesn't."

"And you know what I see when I look in your eyes?" I asked, tears forming my mine.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, wow, thanks." Dean scoffed, looking away.

"You left, Dean. You checked out and went somewhere that I can't get you back from and that scares the hell out of me. After everything we've been through...you're just gonna give up? You're just gonna stop fighting and roll over?"

"I don't know, maybe."

"Don't say that."

"Why not?"

"Because you can't do this." I said through gritted teeth.

"Do what?"

"Kill yourself, hand yourself over to Michael. Whichever one was that had been running through your mind the entire time we've been here." I said, gaining a slightly surprised look from Dean. "I can't read your mind, but I know you like the back of my hand."

"Tori-"

"You're my rock. You are one of the only people I could ever rely on in my life. You are not giving up. You are not allowed to just leave. I won't let you."

"You won't let me? If this was something I really wanted to do, how could you stop me?" Dean asked.

"Like this." I muttered as Castiel appeared next to us, touching Dean on the forehead, catching him as he passed out cold.

* * *

 **I got 99 problems, but a bitch ain't one. My addiction to Supernatural, however, is 97 of them.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction**


	20. Point of No Return

_There's a humming in the restless summer air  
And we're slipping off the course that we prepared  
But in all chaos there is calculation  
You've been drinking like the world was gonna end  
(It didn't)  
Took a shining from the fist of your best friend  
(Go figure)  
It's clear that someone's gotta go  
We mean it, but I promise we're not mean_

… _.._

 _Delicate in every way but one  
(The sore play)  
God knows we like archaic kinds of fun  
(The old way)  
Dance is the only game I place with, baby  
We let our battles choose us_

…

 _No one 'round here is good at keeping their eyes closed  
The sun is starting to light when we're walking home  
Tired little lives, gold-lined promises  
We'll always win at this  
I don't ever think about death  
It's alright if you do, it's fine  
We gladiate, but I guess we're really fighting ourselves  
Roughing up our minds so we're ready, King time comes  
Wide awake in bed, words in my brain  
Secretly I love this_

 _Do you even wanna go free?  
Let me in the ring  
I'll show you what that big word means_

 _You can try and take us  
But we're the gladiators  
Everyone, a rager  
But secretly we're saviors  
Glory and gore go hand and hand  
That's why we're making headlines  
You can try and take us  
But victory's contagious _

_**Lorde – Glory and Gore**_

* * *

We'd left Minnesota with a still passed out Dean in the backseat of the Impala. Cas didn't come with us for the drive, insisting that Dean wouldn't wake up until he wanted him to. Sam and I drove in silence for about half the way until I heard him let out a small sigh.

"What's the matter?" I asked, glancing over at him from the driver seat.

"So Dean was just gonna leave?"

"Yeah."

"And then..."

"I don't even want to think about that, Sam. It's not going to happen. It's not."

* * *

 **BOBBY'S HOUSE – NIGHT**

After we'd carried Dean to the couch, I called Cas, letting him know we'd arrived. Bobby looked at Dean with sad eyes, shaking his head. Castiel stepped in front of Dean, touching a hand to his forehead.

Dean shot upright, letting out a big gasp, realizing where he was. "What the hell? What-"

"I'm sorry-" I began.

"Did you get Cas to roofie me?"

"I had to, you were going to do something stupid!"

"What the hell happened to you?" Bobby asked Dean.

"Reality happened. Nuclear's the only option we have left. Michael can ice the devil, save a boatload of people."

"But not _all_ of them. We gotta think of something else."

"Yeah, well, that's easy for you to say. But if Lucifer burns this mother down, and I could've done something about it, guess what? That's on me."

"You can't give up, son."

"You're not my father. And you ain't in my shoes." Dean snapped. Bobby didn't say a word, pulling a gun out of his desk, setting it on the table along with one single bullet. "What's that?"

"That's the round that I mean to put through my skull. Every morning, I look at it. I think, _m_ _aybe today's the day I flip the lights out_. But I don't do it. I _never_ do it. You know why? Because I promised _you_ I wouldn't give up!"

Castiel let out a groan, hunching over in pain. As I turned to face him, a sudden, loud piecing ring blared through my ears and I found myself holding my head in pain.

"What happened?" Sam asked. "Are you okay?"

"No. Something's happening." Cas replied, disappearing.

"Tori, what happened?"

"I- I don't know." I muttered, rubbing my temples. "God, that was weird."

Suddenly, Cas reappeared in a gust of wind, holding Adam's body, papers blowing everywhere as he laid Adam down on the couch.

"Who is that?" Bobby asked.

"That's our brother." Sam said.

"Wait a minute. Your brother? Adam?"

"Cas, what the hell?" Dean questioned.

"Angels." Cas replied.

"Angels?" Sam asked. "Why?"

"I know one thing for sure. We need to hide him now."

Castiel placed a hand on Adam's chest, branding his ribs to hide him. Adam jolted upright, looking around in panic. "Where am I?"

"It's okay. Just relax, you're safe." Sam told him calmly.

"Who the hell are you?"

"You're going to find this a little...a lot crazy, but we're actually your brothers." Dean said.

"It's the truth." Sam nodded. "John Winchester was our father, too. See, I'm Sam-"

"Yeah, and I'm sure that's Dean." He said, then looked to me. "You're Victoria. "I know who you are."

"How?" I asked.

"They warned me about you."

"Who did?"

"The angels. Now where the hell is Zachariah?"

"Why don't you just tell us everything? Start from the beginning." Dean said.

"Well, I was dead and in Heaven. Except it- it uh, kinda looked like my prom and I was making out with this girl, her name was Kristin McGee-"

"Yeah, that sounds like heaven. Did you get to third base?"

I shot Dean a look, turning back to Adam. "Just keep going, right?"

"Well, these- these angels, they popped out of nowhere, and they tell me that I- I'm chosen."

"For what?"

"To save the world."

"How're you gonna do that?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, me and some archangel are going to kill the devil." Adam shrugged.

"What Archangel?"

"Michael. I'm his uh, sword or vessel or something, I don't know."

"Well, that's insane,"

"Not necessarily." Cas muttered.

"How do you mean?"

"Maybe they're moving on from you, Dean."

"Well that doesn't make sense."

"He is John Winchester's bloodline, Sam's brother. It's not perfect, but it's possible."

"You gotta be kidding me."

"Why would they do this?" Sam asked.

"Maybe they're desperate." Cas suggested. "Maybe they _wrongly_ assumed Dean would be brave enough to withstand them."

"Alright, you know what? Blow me, Cas." Dean spat.

"There's no way." I shook my head. "After everything that's happened? All that shit about destiny? Suddenly the angels have a Plan B? Does that seem right to anybody?"

"You know, this has been a _really_ moving family reunion, but uh, I got a thing, so..." Adam trailed off, about to get up when Sam gently pushed him back down to the couch.

"Now, Adam the angels are _lying_ to you." Sam said. "They're full of shit."

"Yeah, I don't think so."

"Really? Why not?"

"Um, 'cause they're _angels_."

"Did they tell you they were gonna roast half the planet?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They said the fight might get pretty hairy, but it is the devil, right? So we got to stop him."

"Yeah, but there's another way."

"Great. What is it?"

"We're working on _the power of love_." Dean said sarcastically.

"Shut up, Dean." I snapped back at him.

"Look, Adam, you don't know me from a hole in the wall, I know. But I'm begging you. Please, just trust me. Give me some time." Sam pleaded.

"Give me one good reason." Adam challenged.

"Because we're blood."

"You've got no right to say that to me."

"You're still John's boy." Bobby pointed out.

"No, John Winchester was some guy who took me to a baseball game once a year. I don't have a dad. So we may be blood, but we are not family. My mom is my family. And if I do my job, I get to see her again. So no offense, but she's the one I give a rat's ass about, not you."

"Fair enough. I understand completely." I nodded. "In the end, blood doesn't make a difference. You don't have to listen just because they're your brothers. You should want to listen, because deep down, I think you know what's right, Adam. Just give us some time. Please."

Adam stared at the floor for a moment before looking up to me with a nod. "I'll give you some time."

* * *

Down in the basement, Sam, Cas and I walked up to the panic room, opening the door to see Dean standing in the middle of the room, turning to face us.

"Well, Cas, not for nothing, but the last person who looked at me like that…I got laid." Dean commented as Cas hardened his gaze..

"Why don't you, uh, go keep an eye on Adam?" Sam suggested.

I looked between Dean and the angel as Dean winked at him right before he shut the door. "Well, that was interesting."

"Is this really necessary?" Dean asked.

"Well, I mean, we got our hands full, Dean." Sam said. "A house full of flight risks."

"I'm not letting him do it."

"Who, Adam? I'm not either."

"No, you're not getting me."

"Oh, no. I get you perfectly, Dean." I said. "The thing is, I'm not letting you do it, either."

"That kid's not taking a bullet for me. I mean, think about how many people we've gotten killed, Tori. Mom, Dad, Jess, Jo, Ellen. Should I keep going?"

"It's not like we pulled the trigger." Sam argued.

"We might as well have. I'm tired, man. I'm tired of fighting who I'm supposed to be."

"Great." I nodded, stepping back out of the panic room, Sam following me.

" _Great_?"

"Looks like you're gonna have to stay tired in there." I said. Dean watched me with wide eyes as I shut the door, locking it so he couldn't get out.

When Sam and I came back upstairs to sit with Adam, Cas went back down to stay with Dean.

Bobby looked up. "How's he doing?"

"Not good." I mumbled.

"How are you doing?"

The sound of Cas screaming called our attention and Sam and I rushed back downstairs to find both Dean and Cas gone, an angel banishing sigil drawn on the inside of the door with blood.

"Dean!" I shouted, noticing the broken window leading outside. "That fucking-"

"Calm down, Tori." Sam said, trying to relax me.

"Calm down? He blew Cas away and now he's gone." I let out a heavy breath. "You stay with Bobby and Adam. I'll go find him. He couldn't have gone far."

As I left the house, night started to fall. I got in the car, driving through the town slowly, looking wherever I could think of for Dean.

" _Now...where would I go if I were a desperate, worthless worm looking for an angel to ride me?_ " The voice laughed. I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, trying to keep my breathing even.

Maybe if I ignore him, he'll go away.

" _Maybe...no, wait. Probably not._ "

The streetlights illuminated one of the alleys that I passed. Peering inside, I saw two men, something in my gut telling me to stop. I parked the car on the side of the road, hearing their conversation as soon as I stepped out.

"I rebelled for this?!" Cas shouted, punching Dean hard in the face as he held him by the collar. "So that you could surrender to them?"

"Cas, please!" Dean cried. I quickened my pace, running towards them.

"I gave everything for you. And this is what you give to me." Cas hissed. Just as the angel rose his fist again, I appeared at the mouth of the alley.

"Stop it!" I shouted. Cas looked up at me, his eyes wide, letting his fist drop back as I ran over, pulling Dean out of his grasp. "You're gonna be okay baby." He collapsed against me, bruised and bloodied. I looked up to Cas, breathing heavily. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I'm s-"

"Sorry? Really?"

Castiel looked down to the ground, placing one hand on my shoulder and one on Dean's, the three of us appearing back in Bobby's living room.

Sam's eyes went wide when he saw his brother, immediately helping me hold an unconscious Dean up. "What the hell happened to him?"

"Me." Castiel replied.

"Adam is gone." Bobby announced.

"What?" I asked. "What do you mean?"

"Should I say it in Spanish?"

I rolled my eyes at him, glancing over to Sam. "How did you manage to let that happen?"

"He was here one second, and then he just disappeared." Sam explained.

"The angels took him." Castiel interjected.

"What do you mean, the angels took Adam?" Bobby asked. "You branded his ribs, didn't you?"

"Yes. Adam must have tipped them."

"How?"

"I don't know. Maybe in a dream."

"Well, where would they have taken him?" Sam asked.

"I'll go look."

"No." I said, grabbing his arm. "Not before you fix Dean up."

Cas nodded, placing a finger to Dean's head, his wounds disappearing. "I'll be back."

Both Sam and I took Dean down to the panic room, hand-cuffing him to the cot inside. Some time had passed since Cas left, and came back, telling us what he knew. Sam leaned in the doorway of the panic room as I pulled up a chair next to Dean, who still hadn't woken up, sitting down, just looking at him.

Unmoving, he looked so peaceful, so innocent. Like how he used to be. Well, sans the innocent part.

When was the last time I saw a genuine smile on his face?

That thought immediately depressed me, so I pushed it away, sniffling my tears away as I leaned in, placing a kiss on his lips.

I'd make things okay. If it was the last thing I did, I would make things okay.

As I turned to leave, I heard a gasp behind me, turning around to see Dean waking up, blinking rapidly. Sam chuckled, shaking his head. "Hey there Sleeping Beauty."

"What?" Dean asked, looking around, realizing that he was cuffed to the bed, he let out a huff.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"Word to the wise, don't piss off the nerd angels. So how's it going?"

"Adam's gone." Sam said. "The angels have him."

"Where?"

"The room where they took you and Tori."

"You sure?"

"Cas did a re-con."

"And?"

"And the place is crawling with mooks. Pretty much a no-shot-in-hell, hail-Mary kind of thing."

"Ah, so the usual." Dean nodded. "What are you guys going to do?"

"For starters, we're bringing you with." Sam said, stepping into the room, catching me off guard. We'd already discussed this, and bringing Dean was not part of the plan.

"What?" I asked, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"There are too many of them. We can't do it alone."

"We'll have Cas, Sam." I argued. "It's not a good idea."

"She's right." Dean spoke up. "Because either it's a trap to get me there to make me say yes, or it's not a trap and I'm gonna say yes anyway. And I will. I'll do it. Fair warning."

"No, you won't." I snapped at him, tears forming in my eyes. I quickly looked away, letting out a heavy breath.

"When push shoves, you'll make the right call." Sam said, going over to Dean, unlocking his cuffs.

"You know, if the tables were turned, I'd let you rot in here." Dean said. "Hell, I _have_ let you rot in here."

"Yeah, well, I guess I'm not that smart."

"I don't get it. Sam, why are you doing this?"

"Because, you're still my big brother." Sam said, him and Dean walking out of the room. I stood back, pulling the small box out of my pocket, looking it over, the Enochian ritual lingering in the back of my mind.

As terrifying as it was, if Dean did end up saying yes...then I guess today I'll get to see what this stuff really does.

* * *

 **A** **BANDONED** **FACTORY** **– DAY**

"Where the hell are we?" Dean asked, glancing in the backseat to Castiel, who was sitting next to me.

"Van Nuys, California."

"Where's the beautiful room?"

"In there."

"The beautiful room is in an abandoned muffler factory in Van Nuys, California?" Dean asked incredulously.

"Where'd you think it was?"

"I don't know, Jupiter? A blade of grass? Not Van Nuys."

"Tell me again why you don't just grab Adam and shazam the hell out of there." Sam interjected.

"Because there are at least five angels in there."  
"So?" Dean asked. "You're fast."

"They're faster." Cas said. "I'll clear them out. You three grab the boy. This is our only chance."

"Whoa, wait. You're gonna take on five angels?"

"Yes."

"Isn't that suicide?"

"Maybe it is. But then I won't have to watch you fail. I'm sorry, Dean. I don't have the same faith in you that Sam does." Cas said, pulling a box cutter out of his trench-coat pocket, unbuttoning his shirt.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my eyes going wide as he began cutting an angel banishing symbol into his chest. "Cas, that-"

"Will send me away, yes."

"But-"

"Goodbye, Victoria." Cas muttered to me, buttoning up his shirt, stepping outside. I watched him as he entered the building, the door shutting behind him.

I looked over to Dean, seeing that he was already watching me. "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what, Dean?" I asked. Dean shook his head, stepping out of the Impala. Sam followed suit. I pulled in a deep breath, walking behind the boys as we entered the factory, finding one dead angel.

Dean entered the green room, finding Adam on the floor against the opposite wall. He looked up, his eyes wide. "You came for me?"

"Yeah, well, you're family." Dean shrugged.

"It's a trap."

"I figured."

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" Zachariah asked.

"Did _you_?" Dean raised an eyebrow as Sam came at Zachariah from behind with an angel killing blade. Zachariah turned, knocking it out of his hand, throwing Sam against the wall. I braced myself, on the other side of the wall, pulling in a few deep breaths, gripping the handle of the angel blade I held even tighter. Zachariah snapped his fingers, and both Sam and Adam began to cough up blood.

After one more breath, I ran into the room, ducking out of Zachariah's grasp, slicing his arm. He looked at the blue, glowing wound in anger, sending me flying to the wall. As I went, I heard something hit the ground, looking to see the box of grace sitting there.

Zachariah bent down to pick it up, looking at it with wide eyes. "How did you get this?"

"I have my ways." I muttered.

"What were you planning on doing, hm? Taking the grace, and being in charge? You can't fight Michael _and_ Lucifer. You can't protect the people you love most. That must be crushing." He said, still holding the box. "Do you know how idiotic it is of you to bring this here? Because see, now that I have it and you don't, there is absolutely no way for you to save them."

Zachariah smiled and clenched his fist, closing my airways. I felt my chest tighten and constrict. Behind him, Dean looked at me with concerned eyes as I struggled to breathe, nearly collapsing to the ground.

"You're finally ready, right?" Zachariah asked, looking back to Dean. "You know there's no other choice. There's never been a choice."

"Stop it." Dean said. "Stop it right now!"

"In exchange for what?"

"Damn it, Zachariah. Stop it, please. I'll do it." Dean muttered.

"I'm sorry. What was that?" Zachariah asked.

"Okay, yes. The answer is yes."

"Dean!" Sam called.

"Do you hear me? Call Michael down, you bastard!"

"No!" I cried, looking down, not wanting to see any of this happen.

"How do I know you're not lying?" Zachariah asked.

"Do I look like I'm lying?"

Zachariah turned, beginning to summon Michael. " _Zodiredo…noco…aberamage…nazodpesade._ He's coming.

"Of course, I have a few conditions." Dean said, causing me to look up in surprise.

"What?"

"Michael can't have me until he disintegrates you."

"What did you say?"

"I said, before Michael gets one piece of this sweet ass, he has to turn you into a piece of charcoal."

"You really think Michael's gonna go for that?"

"Who's more important to him now? You…or me?"

"You listen to me. You are nothing but a maggot inside a worm's ass. Do you know who I am after I deliver you to Michael?"

"Expendable."

"Michael's not gonna kill _me_."

"Maybe not. But _I_ am." Dean said, thrusting an angel blade through Zachariah's chin, killing him in a flash of white light, the box of grace clattering to the ground.

As soon as he was dead, I felt my airways fill again, my heart going back to a slightly more normal rate. Though it was still pounding as a bright white light began to shine in the room, the piercing ringing making the walls shake. Dean ran over, helping me to my feet. I wrapped an arm around his for support as we went to get Adam up.

"Can you walk?" Dean asked

"Yeah." Adam nodded, getting to his feet.

"Okay, come on."

Just as Sam got up, he, Dean and I ran out of the door with Adam right behind us. We'd barely gotten out before the door slammed shut, Adam pounding frantically on the other side. "No! Help, it won't open! Help!"

Dean attempted to open the door, his hand being burned by the knob. "Hold on! We'll get you out. Just hold on. Adam! Can you hear me?!"

The room filled with a bright white light, it burst and then faded. Dean was finally able to open the door, looking inside to see that it was empty. Adam was gone.

* * *

"You think Adam's okay?" Sam asked as we approached the Impala.

"Doubt it." Dean said. "Cas either. But we'll get them."

"Dean, I saw your eyes. You were totally rocking the _yes_ back there." Sam muttered. "What made you change your mind?"

"Honestly? I mean, the world's ending, the walls are coming down on us, and I look over to you and all I can think about is, _this stupid son of a bitch brought me here_." Dean said to Sam, then looked to me. "And you, when I looked at you- I mean, the look in your eyes. I knew you were disappointed in me. And I just- I can't stand seeing that. I didn't want to let either of you down."

"You didn't." I said. "You almost did...but you didn't."

Dean nodded, allowing a moment of silence to pass before he glancing over to me. "Tori…?"

"Yeah?" I asked, looking up, seeing emotion swirling around in his green eyes.

"How did you get your grace? You didn't-"

"I didn't say yes. Not to anyone. Joshua gave it to me."

"And you were going to do, what?"

"Whatever I had to if it meant saving you. I figured if I was an angel, I could do a hell of a lot more to protect you and Sam from Michael and Lucifer." I sighed, upset. "Doesn't matter now, though. The grace is gone. I don't know where it is."

"So, you were gonna go full angel for me?" Dean asked, looking unsure.

"I would've done anything to stop you from ruining yourself-"

"Even if it meant you ruining _yourself_? Tori, that- that's-"

"Stupid? Yeah. Well, I love you, you idiot." I said, tears filling my eyes. "How many times do I have to remind you?"

"I'm sorry." Dean mumbled, his eyes sad. I reached up, pulling his lips down to mine, putting all the love I felt for him into this kiss. As I pulled back, I almost saw a look of happiness reflecting in Dean's eyes. "I owe you an apology. Both of you."

"No, you don't." Sam shook his head.

"Just...let me say this. I don't know if it's being a big brother or what, but to me, you've always been this snot-nosed kid that I've had to keep on the straight and narrow. I think we both know that that's not you anymore. I mean, hell, if you're grown-up enough to find faith in me…the least I can do is return the favor." Dean said to Sam before looking to me. "And you- you've always been so strong. You've always believed in me, in this family. And now, I honestly believe that you're right. So screw destiny, right in the face. I say we take the fight to them, and do it our way."

"Sounds good." Sam nodded. I smiled up at Dean, wrapping an arm around his waist, squeezing him to me.

Looking into his eyes, seeing the determination there, I knew. My soul felt whole again. My Dean was back.

* * *

 **Let me just say real quick that _Glory and Gore_ is like, the perfect song for this episode...love me some Lorde.  
**

 **Only four chapters left! :O**

 **Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it!**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanficton **


	21. Hammer of the Gods

_In the land of Gods and Monsters, I was an Angel  
Living in the garden of evil  
Screwed up, scared, doing anything that I needed  
Shining like a fiery beacon  
You got that medicine I need  
Fame, liquor, love  
Give it to me slowly  
Put your hands on my waist, do it softly  
Me and God, we don't get along  
So now I sing  
…..._

 _In the land of Gods and Monsters, I was an Angel  
Looking to get fucked hard  
Like a groupie incognito posing as a real singer  
Life imitates art  
You got that medicine I need  
Dope, shoot it up  
Straight to the heart, please  
I don't really wanna know what's good for me  
God's dead,  
I said, baby that's alright with me_

 _..._

 _When you talk it's like a movie and you're making me crazy_  
 _('Cause life imitates art)_  
 _If I get a little prettier can I be your baby?_  
 _You tell me, life isn't that hard_

 _No one's gonna take my soul away_ _  
_ _I'm living like Jim Morrison_  
 _Headed towards a fucked up holiday_  
 _Motel sprees, sprees and I'm singing_  
 _Fuck yeah, give it to me  
This is heaven, what I truly want  
It's innocence lost  
Innocence lost _

**Lana Del Rey – Gods and Monsters**

* * *

The amount of rain that poured around us was insane, making inch deep puddles on the ground. Lounge music echoed throughout the large lobby we ran into the warm, dry air, surrounding us becoming a relief. I pulled in a deep breath, pushing my wet hair off of my face so I could actually look around.

"Nice digs, for once." Dean commented. I had to admit, the lobby was pretty, for once. "Busy night."

"Any port in a storm, I guess." The desk attendant, Chad, chuckled. "If you could just fill this out, please."

"Yeah." Dean nodded, pulling the sheet of paper in front of him, filling it out.

"Sir, I think you have a shaving nick there." He said, handing Dean a tissue.

"Oh, uh, thanks." Dean said, blotting the spot on his face Chad had gestured to. Strangely enough, I hadn't noticed a cut on Dean, but with all the rain, I probably just wasn't paying attention. Once Dean was done with the paper, he slid it back to the guy, who gave him a couple room keys. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have a coffee shop, would you?"

"Buffet. All you can eat. Best pie in the tri-state area."

Dean glanced back at me, a small grin on his face. "You don't say?"

* * *

Inside the dining area, I stood next to Dean as he placed a couple slices of pie onto his plate. He glanced over at me in question. Without saying a word, he picked up a piece of pie, plopping it down on a plate, smothering it in whip cream, handing it to me. I chuckled, taking the plate from him.

"Do I know what you like, or what?" Dean asked with a wink.

"Mhm." I smiled, taking a bite of the pie.

As much as I loved the way Dean was acting again, I couldn't help but think some part of it was just for show. I didn't want to. I hated myself for it, but I couldn't help it. I knew him too well.

"We should hit the road, guys." Sam said.

"In this storm?" Dean asked. " It's-"

"It's biblical. Exactly. I-it's fucking Noah's ark out there, and we're eating pie."

"How many hours of sleep did you get this week? What? Three? Four? Bobby's got his feelers out, okay? We have talked with every hoodoo man and root woman in twelve states."

"Yeah, well, I'm not giving up."

"Nobody's giving up. Especially me. We're gonna find a way to beat the devil, okay? Soon. I can feel it. And we will find Cas, we'll find Adam. But you are no good to us burnt out."

"He's right, Sam." I said, looking up to him with concerned eyes. "You can't run yourself into the ground."

"Yeah. Yeah, okay." Sam nodded.

"Come on, we've actually got the night off for once." Dean said. "Let's try to enjoy it."

* * *

After Dean wiped out about half of the hotel's pie supply, we headed up to our room, passing a couple making out in front of what I assumed to be their door. Dean nudged my shoulder, pointing at them with a grin.

"What are you, twelve?" Sam asked.

"I'm young at heart." Dean said.

I opened the door, entering the large, pristine room. "Wow."

Dean went over to the pillows, taking the little chocolates off. "You want yours?"

"No thanks." I said.

"Knock yourself out." Sam added, looking around the room. "Isn't this place kind of in the middle of nowhere?"

"So?" Dean asked.

"So what's a four-star hotel doing on a no-star highway?" Sam asked, glancing between Dean and I. I had to admit, he had a point. This place did give me weird vibes.

"Whoa." Dean muttered through a mouthful of chocolate as he looked at the TV, ignoring his brother. " _Casa Erotica thirteen_ on demand."

I shook my head with a laugh. "Fancy."

"Maybe we could watch it." Dean winked.

"Maybe." I grinned. Suddenly, a loud female moan came from the room next door, the sound of a headboard banging repeatedly into the wall.

"That sounds good right about now." Dean smiled at me lustfully, pulling me against his body. "You might have to head out, Sammy."

"You guys are gross." Sam shook his head, turning to leave. Just as he did, the sound of the bed smacking forcefully into the wall came through then, and the flat-screen TV on our side shook from the force of it. "Whoa."

"Holy shit." I mumbled.

"I'm gonna go-"

"What, check on them?" Dean asked. "Dude, that's weird."

"We've had rough sex, but that seems...excessive." I looked up to Dean with a shrug. "It can't hurt to make sure."

The three of us made our way over to the room, knocking on the door a couple times. When we continued to get no reply, Sam opened the door, revealing an empty room. Dean bent down, picking something up, showing me the large engagement ring he'd found on the ground. We went back down to the front desk then, going to speak to Chad.

"Hey, the room next to ours, the couple that are, uh, joined at the lips – have you seen them?" Dean asked.

"Mr. and Mrs. Logan, the honeymooners? They checked out." Chad said. "Is something the matter?"

"They checked out?" I asked. "When?"

"Just now."

"Really? It sort of seemed like they were, uh-" Sam chucked. "-in the middle of something."

"Yeah, and it seems kind of strange for honeymooners to check out without this." I said, holding up the ring.

"Oh, dear. I'll just put that right in the lost and found. Don't you worry." Chad said, taking the ring from me, his eyes gong wide when he looked at my finger. "Oh my goodness, you have a cut." I looked down to my finger, seeing some blood trickling out from a small wound that I had no idea how I obtained. "Here you go."

I took the tissue he handed me, wrapping it around my finger. "Thanks."

"Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, we're good." Dean nodded.

"Super-fantastic." Chad smiled widely, disappearing into the back room.

"Creepy." Sam said, raising an eyebrow.

"Broke the needle. Alright, Tori and I will scope out the joint, you keep an eye on _Norman Bates_ over here." Dean said.

"Alright." Sam nodded, staying near the desk while Dean and I started off to the elevators, pulling out a couple EMF meters.

"I mean, one night off. Is that too much to ask?"

"Seems like it." I sighed.

The elevator doors opened, and we stepped out, our EMF meters on, but not sensing anything yet. As we passed by one of the rooms, I could've sworn I saw an elephant holding a towel. Dean and I shared a look of confusion, back-tracking a few steps to the room. Inside was a man, wrapping a towel around himself.

"This ain't no peep show!" He exclaimed, shutting the door.

I looked back to Dean, my brow furrowed. "Wait-"

Dean spoke at the same time. "Did you-"

"That wasn't..."

"No." Dean shook his head. "Right?"

"It couldn't have been."

"Let's find Sam."

"Good idea."

* * *

"An elephant?" Sam asked as we entered the now, very empty lobby.

"Yeah." Dean nodded.

"Like, an elephant?"

"Like, full-on Babar."

"So, what the hell is- where is everybody?" Sam asked, moving to open the door, but they wouldn't budge. I tried to help him push them to no avail.

"Let me guess, it's locked. So what, the roaches check in, they don't check out?"

"Think about how we got here. That detour on I-90? The fucking hurricane?"

"You think we were led here?" I asked.

"Like rats in a maze." Sam said, walking past us.

We followed him into the kitchen, which was also empty. There was a pot on the stove, liquid audibly bubbling inside. Dean shot me a nervous look before stepping in front of it, placing his hand on the handle.

"Please be tomato soup. Please be tomato soup." Dean lifted the lid, his eyes widened. I peered around him, seeing that the pot was filled with bubbling gelatinous red liquid, eyeballs floating around inside. "It's not tomato soup."

"Oh my god." I mumbled, disgusted.

"Motel hell."

While Dean and I were preoccupied with the pot, Sam made his way over to the large freezer, a bunch of desperate voices coming from inside. "Help us! Get us out!" `

"Hurry up!" Dean called, both he and I walked up behind Sam, who was trying to pick the lock.

"I'm going as fast as I..." Sam trailed off, his eyes going wide when he looked behind us.

"There's somebody behind us, isn't there?"

Two arms wrapped around me, holding me tightly, no matter how much I struggled against them. Someone else had done the same to Dean and Sam, all three of them dragging us into a ballroom filled with people, all sitting at the long table in the center.

"Dinner is served." One of the men called, applause filling the room.

"Ladies and Gentleman, our guests of honor have arrived." Another smiled, clinking a glass with his fork as he stood. "Ladies and gentleman, thank you for coming. Although in all my centuries, I never thought I'd see this. This many Gods under one roof."

"Gods?" Sam asked, looking between Dean and I.

"Now, before we get down to brass tacks, some ground rules. No slaughtering each other. Curb your wrath. Oh, and uh, keep your hands off the local virgins. We're, trying to keep a low profile here."

"Oh, we are so, so screwed." Sam muttered. I shot him a look, silently telling him to shut up.

"Now we all know why we're here. The Judeo-Christian apocalypse looms over us. I know we've all had our little disagreements in the past. The time has come to put those aside and look toward the future. Because if we don't, we won't have one. Now we do have three very valuable bargaining chips. Michael, and Lucifer's vessels. Camael's granddaughter. The question is, what do we do now? Anybody have any bright ideas? Speak up. This is a safe room."

"What do we do?" An Asian man asked. "We kill them!"

"Kill them?" The man Dean and I passed by upstairs scoffed. "What, so the angels can bring the back again?"

"I don't know what everybody's getting so worked up about!" A man with long white hair said, his voice bellowing. "'Cause it's just a couple of angels having a slap fight! There's no Armageddon. Everybody knows, when the world comes to an end, the Great Serpent Jormungandr rises up, and I myself will be eaten by a big wolf!"

The Asian man rolled his eyes. "Here we go..."

"Oh yeah? And why is that? Because your beliefs are so much more realistic? The whole world's getting carried around on the back of a giant turtle? Ha! Give me a break!"

"Don't mock my world turtle."

"What are you gonna do about it?"

"I'm gonna send you packing to Valhalla!" He shouted. I shared a wide-eyed look with the boys, in awe of what we were witnessing.

"You watch your mouth when you talk to me, boy!"

"Boy? I'm older than you."

"No one's ever proved that."

As they continued to argue, Sam, Dean and I slowly stood from out seats, attempting to leave the room unnoticed. Just as we got to the door, a huge chandelier fell in front of us, the glass shattering everywhere.

"Stay." The only other female in the room spoke up. "We have to fight. The archangels, the only thing they understand is violence. This ends in blood. There is no other way, it's them, or us."

"With all due respect, ma'am, we haven't even tried talking to them." One of the men suggested. The woman held out a hand and blood began pouring from his mouth.

"Kali!" The man at the head of the table shouted, stopping her.

"Who asked you?" She spat.

The doors opened behind us and my mouth dropped open as Gabriel walked in, a smile on his face, his arms spread to the wide. "Can't we all just get along!"

"Ga-" My voice cut off, the word getting stuck behind my lips.

"Sam, Dean, Tori...it's always wrong place, worst time with you muttonheads, huh?"

"Loki." One of the men addressed him.

"Baldur. Good seeing you too. I guess my invitation got lost in the mail."

"Why are you here?" Baldur asked.

"To talk about the elephant in the room." Gabriel said, the man we'd seen in the towel beginning to stand, indignant. "Not you. The Apocalypse. We can't stop it, gang. But first things first." He paused, turning to us. "The adults need to have a little conversation. Check you later."

With a snap of his fingers, we were back in our room.

"Okay, did that- holy shit!" Dean exclaimed.

"Tell me about it. By the way, next time I say let's keep driving, let's keep driving." Sam said.

"Agreed." I nodded.

"Alright, so what's our next move?"

"I don't know. Grab those poor saps outta the freezer, I guess? Bust them out? Gank a few freaks along the way if we're lucky?"

"And when are you ever lucky?" Gabriel asked, suddenly appearing.

"Well you know what, bite me, Gabriel."

"Maybe later, big boy."

"I should have known." I said, folding my arms. "This had your stench all over it."

"You think I'm behind this? Please. I'm the _Costner_ to your _Houston_. I'm here to save _your_ ass."

"You want to help us?"

"Bingo! Those guys are either gonna dust you, or use you as bait. Either way, you're uber boned."

"Really, 'cause a couple of months ago you were telling us that we need to _play our_ roles." Dean said. "You're uber boning us!"

"The end is still nigh. Michael and Lucifer are gonna dance the lambada, and you, my dear will be the choreographer." Gabriel said to me. "But not tonight. Not here."

"Why do you care?" I asked.

"I don't care. But, me and Kali we had a thing. Chick was all hands. What can I say? I'm sentimental."

"You're joking."

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

"How the hell did you score her?"

"That's a tad rude, don't you think, Princess?"

"Do they have a chance?" Sam interjected. "Against Satan?"

"Really, Sam?" Dean asked, shooting his brother a look.

"You got a better idea, Dean?"

"It's a bad idea." Gabriel said. "Lucifer's gonna turn them into finger paint. So let's get going while the going's good, hm?"

"Great." Dean nodded. "Why don't you just zap us outta here then?"

"Would if I could, but Kali's got you by the short and curlies. It's a blood spell. You all are on a leash."

"What does that mean?"

" _Short and curlies_? That means-"

"No, Gabriel. The blood spell. The leash. that's what he's talking about." I said, shaking my head. "Jesus Christ."

"It means it's time for a bit of the old black magic." Gabriel grinned, spritzing some breath spray in his mouth.

"Okay, yeah. Well, whatever. We're gonna take the hors d'oeuvres in the freezer with us." Dean said.

"Forget it. It's gonna be hard enough sneaking you mooks outta here."

"They called you Loki, right? Which means they don't really know who you are?"

"Told you. I'm in witness protection."

"Okay, well then how about you do what we say, or we tell the legion of doom about your secret identity. They don't seem like a real pro-angel kinda crowd."

Gabriel looked scared for a moment before hiding it. "I'll take your voices away."

"We'll write it down." I retorted.

"I'll cut off your hands."

"Well then, people are gonna be asking, _why are you guys running around with no hands?_ " Dean said, raising his eyebrows.

"Fine." Gabriel huffed.

* * *

Back down in the lobby, we heard loud screams coming from the far side of the employee entrance area, quickly ducking down the hallway to hide as two men dragged one of the men from the freezer, his screams growing more and more panicked by the second.

"No! No, please!" He cried until one of the two men came down hard on his neck with a meat cleaver, chopping it off.

We waited for the two men to leave with the body, a trail of blood following them, for us to run to the kitchen. Sam bend down in front of the freezer, trying to pick the lock as fast as possible while all the people inside kept screaming. Out of nowhere, the Asian God from before threw Dean across the room, pushing me aside before holding Sam to the freezer by the throat.

The pain in my back spread through my body as I tried to stand, realizing that I landed right into the corner of the metal counters. I looked across the room, seeing Dean grunting in pain, trying to get up from the large metal rack covered in pots and pans that he had landed on.

I reached for one of our bags, pulling out the wooden stake, throwing it to Dean, who caught it with ease, stabbing the God in the back with it. He released Sam as he died, and Sam fell back with a loud gasp of air.

"Are you okay?" I asked Sam, who just nodded in response, coughing a few times.

"Where the hell is Gabriel?" Dean asked.

* * *

It didn't take long before we were found again, the three of us being thrown back into the ballroom, this time along with Gabriel.

"How's the rescue going?" Dean asked, glancing over to Gabriel, who shot him a hard look.

"Well, surprise, surprise. The Trickster has tricked us." Kali announced.

"Kali, don't." Gabriel said lowly.

"You're mine now. And you have something I want." Kali reached into his jacket, pulling out his angel blade. "An Archangel's blade. From the Archangel, Gabriel."

All of the other Gods let out gasps, staring at Gabriel. "Okay, okay! So I got wings, like Kotex. But that doesn't make me any less right about Lucifer."

"He's lying. He's a spy."

"I'm not a spy. I'm a runaway. I'm trying to save you. I know my brother, Kali. He should scare the living crap out of you. You can't beat him. I've skipped ahead, seen how this story ends-"

"Your story. Not ours. Westerners, I swear. The sheer arrogance. You think you're the only ones on earth? You pillage and you butcher in your God's name. But you're not the only religion, and he's not the only God. And now you think you can just rip the planet apart? You're wrong. There are billions of us. And we were here first. If anyone gets to end this world, it's me. I'm sorry." Kali said, stabbing Gabriel. My eyes widened as I watched his light flicker out.

I hated to admit this, but I didn't want him to die.

"This is crazy." One of the God's muttered.

"They can die. We can kill Lucifer."

"Alright you primitive screwheads, listen up." Dean called.

"Are you crazy?" I asked, glancing over to him.

"I'm out of options." Dean said, continuing to address everyone. "Now on any other given day, I'd be doing my damndest to kill you. You filthy murdering chimps. But, hey, desperate times. So even though I'd love nothing better than to slit your throats, you dicks, I'm gonna help you. I'm going to help you ice the devil. And then we can all get back to ganking each other, like normal. You want Lucifer, well, dude's not in the Yellow Pages. But the three of us, we can get him here."

"How?" Kali asked, looking as though she believed him.

"First you let those main courses go. Then we talk. We can either take on the devil together, or you lame-ass bitches can eat me. Literally."

* * *

After Kali surprisingly agreed to Dean's proposition, he and I led the group of people outside, sending them on their way.

"Psst! Hey!" I turned towards the Impala, seeing Gabriel hiding in the backseat. "Don't look at me! Act natural."

"There is nothing natural about this at all." I said.

"Get in." He hissed, ducking down lower as Dean and I entered the car.

"I thought you were dead."

"Oh, yeah? Miss me?" He asked with a smile as I stared blankly. "Come on, I know you did."

"Eat me."

"How'd you fake it?" Dean asked.

"You think I'd give Kali my real sword? That thing can kill me!" Gabriel exclaimed.

"Then what do they have in there?"

"A fake! Made it out of a can of diet orange Slice. So, uh, go snag our blood, would you?"

"What?"

"I heard you in there. Kali likes you. You can get close. Lift the plasma, then we vamoose."

"No way." I shook my head. "I'm not letting him do that."

"You know, at some point, you gotta cut the apron strings, Princess."

"Hand over the real blade." Dean interjected before I could reply. "Better yet, why don't you sack up and help us take down Lucifer."

"You can't be serious?"

"Deadly."

"Since when are you butt buddies with a bunch of monsters? That's all they are to you, aren't they?"

"Alright, you know, Sam was right. It's nuts but it's the best idea I've heard, so unless you have a better one?"

"Well, good luck with that. Me? I'm blowing Jonestown. Those lemmings wanna run off a cliff, that's their business."

"I see right through you, you know that? The smart-ass shell, the whole _I couldn't give a shit_ , thing? Believe me, it takes one to know one."

"That so?"

"Oh, yeah." I nodded. Dean looked at me pointedly. "What? You said it."

"Maybe those freaks in there aren't your blood but they are your family." Dean continued.

"They just stabbed me in the fucking heart!"

"Maybe, but you still give a shit about them, don't you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Princess-"

"They're gonna die in there, without you."

"I can't kill my brother."

"Can't or won't?" Dean asked, getting no answer. "That's what I thought."

* * *

As we re-entered the ballroom, Kali was standing beside Sam, staring down at him. "So you're going to summon Lucifer."

"Sort of." Sam said. "I just need you to squeegee some stuff from my ribs and he'll come running."

"Breaking them would be easier."

"Show's over." Dean stepped in. "Sword's a fake, and Gabriel, he's still kicking. I hate to break it to you, sister, but you've been tricked."

Suddenly, the ringing in my ears blared, getting so loud I thought my brain was about to explode. I let out a hiss of pain, holding onto the sides of my head. Dean held me up, looking at me with worry.

" _Guess what? I'm here._ " The voice spoke, louder and more clear than ever. Screams could be heard from outside the room as the lights started flickering.

"What is happening?" Baldur asked.

"It's him." I muttered.

"How?" Kali asked.

"Does it matter? Shazzam us out of here, would you!?" Dean exclaimed, still holding onto me.

"Of course you can't. You didn't say _mother, may I?"_ Lucifer strode in, smiling at us. "Sam, Dean, good to see you again." He grinned, looking to me. "And Vicki, great to talk face to face again for once, am I right? Those other conversations were a tad bit...one sided, hm?"

"You think you own the planet?" Baldur asked, stepping forward. "What gives you the right?"

"No one gives us the right, we take it." Lucifer said, stabbing his hand into Baldur's chest, ripping him apart from the inside with his bare hand, killing him, throwing his body to the ground. Kali became infuriated, her arms engulfing in flames that she began to throw at Lucifer.

The boys and I jumped behind the overturned table for protection, peering over to see Lucifer hit Kali in the chin, sending her flying across the room.

"Are you okay?" Dean asked, looking over to me.

"I- no." I mumbled, my breathing shallow.

"Better late than never, huh?" Gabriel appeared next to us, handing Dean a DVD. "Guard this with your life."

Lucifer was about to stomp down on Kali's head, when Gabriel stood, blowing him back through the ballroom doors.

"Lucy, I'm home." Gabriel said, picking up Kali, handing her over to us. "Get her out of here."

"Over a girl. Gabriel, really?" Lucifer asked in disgust. "I mean I knew you were slumming, but I hope you didn't catch anything."

"Lucifer, you're my brother. And I love you. But you are a great big bag of dicks."

"What did you just say to me?"

"Look at yourself! Boo-hoo! Daddy was mean to me, so I'm gonna smash up all his toys."

"Watch your tone."

"Play the victim all you want. But you and me? We know the truth. Dad loved you best. More than Michael, more than me. The only one who tied with you was Camael. But then he brought the new baby home and you couldn't handle it. So this is all just one big temper tantrum. Time to grow up."

With that, we grabbed Kali, rushing out of the hotel and out to the parking lot. She stopped at the Impala, looking at it in disgust. "I'm not getting in that thing."

"Now is not the time, okay?" I said, glaring at her. Sam opened the door, and with a huff, she slid into the passenger seat, leaving Sam and I in the back.

* * *

 **IMPALA – DAY**

The sunlight shined down on the parked car as we stood beside it on one of the exits off the long highway in Indiana. I couldn't help but feel that something was wrong, any senses I had being shifted once again after being in the presence of Lucifer.

Sam pulled out his laptop, popping the DVD into the player. I leaned over, watching as porno music began playing, the black screen fading to a large room, focused on a blonde sitting on a plush bed.

" _Dear Diary-_ " The blonde wrote aloud. " _Being a high powered business president is super-fun. But so exhausting. Sometimes, I just need to relax. I need Casa Erotica._ "

" _Room Service!_ " A male voice called off-scene.

" _Come in!_ "

"Gabriel wanted you to guard this with your life?" Sam asked.

"Maybe he's a fan." Dean shrugged. "It is a good one."

The blonde on screen opened the door to reveal Gabriel, who was wearing a fake mustache. " _I've got the kielbasa you ordered._ "

" _Polish?_ " She asked.

" _Hungarian._ " Gabriel said, throwing the tray down, passionately kissing the woman, feeling up and down her sides with his hands, the both of them moaning exaggeratedly.

"What the hell's going on?" Sam asked, wearing the same disgusted looks as both Dean and I.

Gabriel removed his mustache, facing the camera, breaking the fourth wall of the video. " _Sam, Dean, Victoria...you're probably wondering what the hell is going on. Well, if you're watching this, I'm dead. Oh, please! Stop sobbing! Especially you, Princess. It's embarrassing for all of us. Without me, you've got zero shot at killing Lucifer, sorry! But you can trap him. The cage you sprung Lucifer from? It's still down there. And maybe, just maybe, you can shove his ass back in._ "

 _Not that it'll be easy. You gotta get the cage open, trick my bro back into it. And uh, oh yeah, avoid Michael and the God Squad. But hey, details, right? And here's the big secret, Lucifer himself doesn't even know...the key to the cage? It's out there. Actually it's keys, plural. Four keys, well, four rings. From the Horsemen. You get 'em all, you got the cage. Can't say I'm betting on you three. But, uh, hey, I've been wrong before! And Dean, you were right. I was afraid to stand up to my brother, but not any more._ " He stood. " _So this is me, standing up. And this is, me, lying down._ "

Gabriel grabbed the woman, throwing her back onto the bed with him, glancing up at the camera. " _Oh, heads up, little Tori, you might want to look away now. 'Cause Uncle Gabe's about to get it on!_ " He snapped his fingers and in an instant, they were both naked and...completely going at it.

"Oh my god! Close it!" I cried, looking away. Sam quickly shut the laptop, looking as disgusted as I felt.

Dean cleared his throat, shaking his head. "Okay, so let's try to forget that ever happened."

"How?"

"The Horsemen, right? Their rings? We got War's. We nicked Famine's. That's two down. All we need is Pestilence and Death."

I scoffed as Sam looked up to his brother sarcastically. "Oh, is that all?"

"It's a plan. Might not be good, but it's the only one we've got."

"We can do it." I nodded, trying to be strong for the boys, no matter how many doubts were in my head. "We'll do it."

* * *

 **This chapter was super hard to write. Not because I found it challenging like some others, but because my cat would not stop crawling onto my lap, stepping on my laptop's keyboard and rubbing his face all over my hands, causing multiple typos.**

 **Anything wrong I didn't catch is credited to him.  
**

 **Also...WHY DID GABRIEL HAVE TO DIE!? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, BRING HIM BACK TO THE SHOW HE CANNOT BE DEAD! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT.**

 **Okay. Side note, I love Lana Del Rey. Anybody else?**

 **Thanks for reading! Only three more chapters to go until the end of _The Forgotten_! **

**Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction**


	22. The Devil You Know

_I see her Tuesday evening  
Comes in and gets a light  
Sometime on the weekend, mostly late at night  
I could not help but ask her, we might spend some time  
She said it was not likely, and she told me why  
….._

 _The devil that I know  
Is a cheater and a liar  
Now why would I go jumping from the pan into the fire?  
But if I knew you better  
Get on your knees and pray  
When you dance with the devil, you only have hell to pay_

 _She said the devil you know, he's the devil you don't  
I'm in between a hard place and a rock  
The devil you know, he's the devil you don't  
I'm gonna stick with the devil I got_

 _ **Tommy Castro & The Painkillers – The Devil You Know**_

* * *

In the days after Gabriel's death, Pestilence made himself known, crossing over states, bringing sickness wherever he went. We had been to so many hospitals searching for him, but always seemed to get there too late.

Today wasn't any different.

"Check it out, I look like the king of pop." Dean grinned, holding up his gloved hand. I sighed, shaking my head. "Too soon?"

"Too soon." I nodded.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the CDC is here, but what we really need is vaccine." The doctor muttered from across the room.

"You got that right." Dean said.

"Well, tell me, have you noticed anything unusual about the strain?" Sam asked. "Any signs of behavioral change, like aggression, maybe?"

"Excuse me?" The doctor asked.

Dean cleared his throat, stepping in. "Have the flu victims shown any signs of, uh, homicidal tendencies?"

"Symptomatically speaking, we're looking at a relatively mild case of swine flu here. Probably add up to a miserable week off of work, and that's about it."

"So nothing unusual."

"Day and a half ago, we didn't have a single case. Now we're looking at over seventy. The infectious equivalent of a briefcase bomb. So, yeah, I might call that a little unusual."

"A day and a half?" Sam inquired.

"That's the same time those statues started crying." Dean said.

"Yup." I nodded.

"I'm sorry. What was that?" The doctor asked, looking at us like we were insane.

"What was...what?" Dean asked, trying to confuse him, I'm guessing.

"Did you just say a bunch of statues started crying?"

"What?" Sam laughed, shaking his head. "No. No. Who- who would-"

"Who would say that, huh?" Dean asked, chuckling awkwardly. "Crazy people."

I nodded, smiling at him. "Exactly."

"Yeah. Which we are not."

"No."

The doctor looked at us suspiciously, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Just...get us some vaccine."

* * *

 **IMPALA – NIGHT**

Back in the Impala, I called Bobby to update him on everything that was happening here, leaning forward with my hand in between the boys so we could all easily hear Bobby.

" _Let me guess, another steaming-hot pile of swine flu._ "

"Pretty much." I replied.

"It doesn't make any sense, Bobby." Sam said. "Pestilence touched down here. I'm sure of it."

"But why is he dealing them soft serve like swine flu when he's got the Croatoan virus up his sleeve?" Dean asked. "I- I don't get it."

" _Doesn't matter what the sick son of a bitch is doing. What matters is this is the fourth town he's hit, that we know of, and we're still eating his dust."_ Bobby said, the sound of paper flipping in the background. " _Did you get anything? We got even a snowball at probable next target?_ "

"No pattern we can see." Sam told him.

" _Okay. Well, far as I can tell, he's still heading East, So...head East, I guess._ "

" _East_?" The boys asked at the same time.

"We're in West Nevada." I said. "East is practically all there is."

" _Yeah, well, you better get to driving._ " Bobby said, hanging up.

"Say...I've got an idea."

Looking to my left, I saw Crowley sitting there, staring back at me. As Dean slammed on the breaks, I quickly grabbed Ruby's knife, trying to stab him, but he disappeared before I could.

"Did you get him?" Dean asked.

"No. I got the car though." I mumbled, gently prodding at the slit in the leather.

"Dammit."

"Fancy a fag and a chat?" Crowley asked, appearing next to the car. "You're upset. We should discuss it. Not here, but-"

"You want to talk? After what you did to us?" I asked, getting out of the car.

"After what I- what I did to you?! I gave you the colt!"

"And you knew it wouldn't work against the devil."

"I never!"

"You set us up. We lost people on that suicide run. Good people!"

"Who you take on the ride is your own business!" Crowley exclaimed. I let out a growl, thrusting Ruby's knife at him, only hitting air. I looked around, seeing him re-appear a few feet away, looking to the boys. "Call off your lioness, please."

"Give me one good reason." Dean said, leaning back on the Impala.

"I can give you Pestilence."

"What do you know about pestilence?"

"I know how to get him. That's got your interest, doesn't it?"

"Are you actually listening to this?" I asked.

Seeing the look on Dean's face, Sam shook his head. "Are you fucking nuts?!"

"Shut up for a second!" Dean exclaimed.

"Shut up, all of you!" Crowley shouted. "Look, I swear... I thought the Colt would work. It's an honest mistake. It's all part of the learning process. But nothing's changed. I still want the devil dead. Well...one thing's changed. Now the devil knows that I want him dead. Which, by the way, makes me the most buggered son in all of creation."

I rolled my eyes. "Holy shit, we don't care."

"They burnt down my house! They ate my tailor! Two months under a rock, like a bloody salamander! Every demon on hell and earth's got his eyes out for me!"

"Yeah, and?"

"And yet, here I am, the last place I should be. In the road, talking to Victoria Anderson and Sam and Dean Winchester, under a fucking spotlight!" Crowley gestured to the streetlamp and it exploded. "So come with me. Please. Do you want the horsemen rings or not? Yes, I know all about that. Shall we?"

* * *

 **ABANDONED HOUSE – NIGHT**

Crowley sighed, leading us into the run down house. "Here we are. My life on the lam. How the mighty have fallen. Single-pane glass, used contraception in the fireplace. The water damage alone-"

"My heart's bleeding for you." Dean said. "Now, how do you know about the rings?"

"Well, now...I've been keeping a close eye on you lot."

"We got hex bags." Sam said. "We're hidden from demons."

"All but one. That night you broke into my house, our first date, my valet hid a tracking device in your car. A magical coin that easily trumps your little bags o' bones. It allows me to hear things, too. And, my, the things I've heard." Crowley chuckled. "So you want to cram the devil back in the box? Cunning scheme. I want in."

"You said you could get us Pestilence." Dean reminded him.

"Well, now...I don't know where Pestilence is, per-se. But I do know the demon who does. He's what you might call the horsemen's stable boy. He handles their itineraries, their personal needs. He's who you want, believe me. He'll tell us where Sneezy's at."

"Well, how do we get him to spill? Rip out his toenails?"

"No. Nuts at his pay grade don't crack. We bring him here, then I sell him."

"Sell him?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Please. I've sold sin to saints for centuries. Think I can't close one little demon?"

"Why are we even listening to him?" Sam asked, looking between Dean and I. "This is totally insane."

"I mean, yeah." I muttered.

"Do you trust him?"

"God, no."

"You?"

Dean shrugged. "Well-"

"A shrug?" Sam asked incredulously.

"One big happy family, are we, then?" Crowley grinned sarcastically. "Fantastic."

"You ready to go?" Dean asked Crowley.

"Yes. I am. Sam, Victoria, keep the home fires burning."

"What are you talking about?"

"They're not coming."

"And why the hell not?" I scoffed.

"Because I don't trust you." Crowley told Sam before looking to me. "And while I admire your persistence, you keep trying to kill me!"

"This is not going to happen."

"I'm not _asking_ _you_ , am I?"

"I don't care. I am _telling you_. It's not happening."

"Fine." Crowley shrugged, looking to Dean. "Enjoy your last few sunsets."

"Wait. I'll go." Dean said, glancing back at Sam and I. "What can I say? I believe the guy."

The two of us stood in the doorway, watching Dean leave with Crowley. I kept my eyes on the Impala until it disappeared behind the thick line of trees. With a sigh, I shut the door, going over to the table with Sam as he pulled up a bottle of whiskey, opening it.

"Want some?"

"Sure." I nodded, taking a swig from the bottle, handing it back to him. He placed the bottle on the table, calling Bobby, filling him in on what's happened and where Dean went

" _Well, look, I got no love for demons, and, yeah, this whole thing is crazy, but...I don't know. After a year of chasing up zilch, maybe it's time to go crazy._ " Bobby replied. I shrugged, finding it difficult to come up with a reason to disagree with him.

Sam glanced up at me, quickly averting his eyes as I looked up. I furrowed my brow, watching him swallow hard. "Hey, Bobby?

" _Yeah?_ "

"Remember that time you were possessed?"

" _Yeah. Rings a bell._ "

"When Meg told you to kill Dean, you didn't. You took your body back."

" _Just long enough to shank myself, yeah._ "

"Well, how'd you do it? I mean, how'd you take back the wheel?"

" _Why are you asking, Sam?_ "

After taking a long swig from the bottle, Sam looked up at me, speaking to both me and Bobby. "Say we can open the cage. Great. But then what? W- we just lead the devil to the edge and get him to jump in?"

" _You got me._ " Bobby replied. I kept my eyes trained on Sam, not liking where this was going.

"What if you guys lead the devil to the edge and _I_ jump in?"

"Sam, no." I shook my head.

"It'd be just like when Bobby turned the knife around on himself. One action. Just one leap."

" _Are you idjits trying to kill me?!_ " Bobby exclaimed. " _We just got done talking your brother off the ledge, and now you're lining up to say yes?_ "

"It's not like that. I'm not gonna do it. Not unless we all agree. But I think we got to look at our options."

"That isn't one of them, Sam." I said.

"Why not?"

"Why not? Because what happens to you after? You get put into the cage with Lucifer? Then what? How do we get you out?" I asked, panic rising in me at the very thought.

"I- I guess we wouldn't." Sam murmured.

" _You can't do it._ " Bobby interjected.

"Bobby-"

" _You can't do it because what I did was a million-to-one, and that was some pissant demon I was brain-wrestling. You're talking about taking back control from Satan himself._ "

"Yeah. I am."

" _Kid, it's called possession for a reason._ "

"I'm strong enough."

" _You ain't. He's gonna find every chink in your armor, Sam, and use it against you. Your fear, your grief, your anger. And let's face it, you're not exactly Mr. Anger management. How are you gonna control the devil when you can't control yourself?_ "

* * *

DPOV

Parked a good distance away from the building, I held the binocular's up to my eyes, watching a few people walking around outside.

"Demons?" I asked.

"Human shields." Crowley replied."The demons are up top. Twelfth floor."

"Alright, then. We'll have to find a way in through the back."

"You Winchesters make everything so complicated." Crowley said, disappearing.

"Oh, shit." I mumbled, my eyes widening when I saw him re-appear behind the security guard, slitting his throat. "Oh, shit. Shit!"

I quickly got out of the Impala, rushing over to the door, knocking on it. Crowley watched me, nodding down to the handle. "Door's open!"

"You killed them?"

"We're on a tight schedule. Come on, now you're squeamish? Please." Crowley huffed, making his way over to the elevator, pressing the button. As the door opened, I stepped inside, seeing that Crowley hadn't moved. "Go get 'em, tiger."

"Wh- you're not coming?"

"Oh, no. It's not safe up there. There's demons."

"Yeah, I get that."

"Look, just do what I told you, and try to be convincing. It'll work like a charm. Trust me."

As the elevator doors closed, I glared at Crowley, who simply smiled back and waved. The entire ride to the twelfth floor was spent with me gritting my teeth, trying to figure out the easiest way to kill that bastard once we got what we needed from him.

The elevator doors opened to an eerily quiet office floor. I stepped out, quietly moving along one of the walls. A man stepped out of an office, smiling at me. "Dean Winchester. What, no appointment?"

"Kind of an eleventh-hour thing, you know?"

"Well, then, you're just on time. Have a seat. What can I do for you?"

"Actually, it's about what I can do for you."

"Really?"

"We dropped two of your jockeys. I think you know that."

"Yes. I got the memo."

"Well, we kept their, uh, secret power rings. Which is why I'm here. I heard some folks saying that you wanted them back and you were willing to pay."

"Where are they?"

"Not here. But you want them, you'll come with me, nice and civil. We'll get out of your little batcave here, and we'll discuss a transaction."

"Who says I want them?"

I froze for a moment. "What?"

" _Who says I want them?_ "

"You know...folks."

"See, War and famine, even if I could cram the rings back on their bony fingers, I doubt it would do much good. They're withered husks right now. Fetal position on the floor, all thanks to you. So I don't want the rings. What I want is retribution. And I'm gonna rip it right out of your ass!"

The demon threw me back, I crashed through his office door, landing on my back with a groan. He walked up to me, kicking me in the stomach.

"This is so good. Therapeutic, for sure. You know, Dean, I really owe you one, buddy, 'cause I feel so. Much. Better!"

Every word was accentuated with a kick before he stopped for a moment, allowing me to stand. As soon as I got to my feet, I rushed towards the elevator, pressing the button repeatedly.

"Dean, where are you going?" He called as the door opened. "We're just getting started!" I jumped inside the elevator, the doors closing. I leaned on the back wall, breathing heavily, swallowing hard. The moment the elevator opened, the demon was standing there, hitting me in the head. "Good meeting, Dean. You know, I'm excited."

From the ground, I watched Crowley approach, dropping a sack covered in devil's traps over the demon's head, bashing him with a crowbar. "Evening, Uncle."

"What the hell was that?" I asked, standing upright.

"That was perfect."

"Perfect? He didn't want the rings. He wanted me."

"Imagine the surprise on your face."

"What?"

"Your ignorance and misinformation. I mean, completely authentic. You can't fake that. I-it went like clockwork."

"Not for me, you son of a bitch!"

"That's what you get, working with a demon." Crowley shrugged.

* * *

As I drove back to the abandoned house, I glanced behind me, seeing that Crowley had lifted the demons shirt up and was currently carving a sigil into his stomach, blood dripping everywhere.

"Hey, hot stuff, watch the upholstery!"

"Up yours, mate. This bit of carving will tie our friend here down. No zapping off, no smoking out. Locked in the meat suit, an important piece of our bargaining strategy. Now, up here, we don't want I-50. Take 93 north."

"What are you talking about?"

"Look, we can't take this guy back to your brother."

"Why the hell not?" I asked, looking back when he didn't answer. "Crowley!"

"They got history, alright."

In a moment of anger, I slammed my foot down on the break, screeching the Impala to a halt. I turned back to Crowley, an angry look in my eyes. "You want to go anywhere, you start talking. What history?"

* * *

TPOV

After waiting for what felt like forever, I heard the Impala pull up outside, heading back downstairs with Sam behind me to find Crowley standing at the foot of them.

"Where's Dean?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Lover boy is fine." Crowley replied, not letting me pass.

"Move."

"Now, now. Don't get your nickers in a twist. For the record, I'm against this. Negotiating a high-level defection, it's very delicate business."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.

"I begged Dean not to come back. We should be miles away...from you." Crowley told Sam. "He replied with a colorful rejoinder about my _corn chute_. So, go ahead. Go ruin our last best hope. It's only the end of the world."

Crowley moved to the side, allowing us to pass. I entered the run-down dining room, finding Dean standing beside a man tied to a chair, a hood covering him.

"What's going on, Dean?" Sam asked.

"I need you to stay on mission, okay? Focused." Dean replied.

"I don't understand. What's all this about?"

"I'm doing this 'cause I trust you."

"Trust me to what?"

"Sam?" The man under the hood called, clearing his throat. "Sam, is that you?"

Dean removed the hood and Sam's eyes got wide as softballs. "Brady?"

"Brady hasn't been Brady in years. Not since, oh, middle of our sophomore year?"

"What?"

"That's right. You had a devil on your shoulder even back then. Let it all sink in."

"You son of a bitch!" Sam exclaimed, taking a step towards Brady. Dean held him back, shaking his head. "You introduced me to Jess!"

"Ding, ding! I think he's got it!" Brady smiled as Sam struggled to push past Dean. I grabbed his arm, helping Dean hold him in place.

"I'm gonna kill you!"

"Come on, go!" Dean said, pushing Sam out of the room while Brady laughed behind us. "Come on, Sam!"

"Get out of my way!"

Dean moved over, blocking the door. "No."

"Get out of my way, Dean."

"There is only one way to win, and it ain't by killing that thing in there."

"Well, sounds like you got him nice and fluffed." Crowley mumbled. "Thanks so much."

"Do you ever shut up?" I asked, looking back at the demon, who simply raised an eyebrow in response as he strode past us into the room with Brady.

"Listen to me." Dean said, looking at his brother. "We need pestilence to get at the devil, and we need Brady to get to pestilence."

"Why? Because Crowley said so? Because we trust him now? Like I trusted Ruby? Or like I trusted Brady back at school?"

"Sam, just calm down, okay?" I suggested.

"Calm down?"

"Yeah. Calm down. You're not thinking straight right now."

Without a word, Sam stomped back upstairs. Crowley came back out then, passing by us. Dean looked over to him in question. "Well, how'd it go? He buy your girl scout cookies?"

"Not yet." Crowley replied. "Where's your moose?"

"He's cooling off."

"Alright, then. Get bent."

"Excuse me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, he won't budge, so now I go stick my neck out."

"What are you gonna do?" Dean asked.

"Exactly the kind of desperate swashbuckle I've been trying to avoid. Now I go kick open a hive of demons. This whole bloody ring business better work."

Once Crowley disappeared from view, Dean turned and went into the kitchen, I followed, the door shutting behind us. I placed a hand on Dean's back as he bent down to splash cool water on his face, letting out a heavy breath. "What are we even doing here, Tori? Working with a demon?"

"Everything we can."

"Yeah." Dean scoffed. "That's getting a little old by now, isn't it?"

"Kind of. But what else is there? You're not giving up again, are you?"

"Of course not." Dean said, his eyes sincere. "I told you, I'm not doing that again. I won't."

"Good." I smiled up at him, the sound of the doorknob jiggling catching my attention. I went over to the door, trying to open it, realizing that it was blocked. "Sam?"

"Sammy!?" Dean called, banging on the door. "Sam, don't do this!"

* * *

SPOV

Ignore Dean and Tori's calls, I made my way over to Brady, standing in front of him as he smiled up at me. The amount of rage and anger I felt just by looking at him was almost overwhelming. This bastard cost Jess her life.

"Well, here we go." He grinned. "We doing last words or no?"

"Sophomore year, huh?"

"Brady, here, he was a good kid. Straight arrow. I mean, your best friend, really. Perfect point of access."

"Thanksgiving." I muttered, remembering.

"Yes, sir. I came back from break all messed up, dropped out of pre-med. The drugs, the bitches? That was the _new_ Brady. That was _me_. Remember how much time you spent trying to get me back on the right track? You really were a good friend. But ol' yellow eyes didn't send me back to be your friend. No, we could tell we were starting to lose you. You were becoming a mild-mannered, worthless sack of piss. Now, come on, we couldn't have that. You were our favorite. So I hooked you up with a pure, sweet, innocent piece of tail. And then I toasted her on the ceiling." He paused, reviling at the anger on my face. "That's right. Azazel might have put the hit out on Jessica, but, man, I got to have all the fun!"

"You know, she thought we were friends, too. Let me right in. She was baking cookies. She was so surprised...so hurt when I started in on her." He shook his head. I pulled up Ruby's knife, pressing it to his throat. "Come on! Do it if it'll make you feel better!"

This would make me feel better...but in the end, it would cost us so much more. I backed off, stomping down the anger inside, leaving the room as he laughed.

* * *

TPOV

"Sam!" I called, both Dean and I still banging on the door.

"Hey, hey! Alright, wait! I'm gonna open it." Sam said, moving whatever he blocked the door with out of the way, opening it.

"What happened?" Dean asked.

"Nothing."

"My ass."

"Dean, I'm fine."

"Yeah? And what about Brady?"

"Like you said, we need him."

"God. The day I've had. Good news. You're going to live forever." Crowley's voice echoed through the home. We headed back out to the foyer, seeing him standing in front of Brady.

"What did you do?" The demon asked.

"Went over to a demons' nest, had a little massacre. Must be losing my touch, though. Let one of the little toads live. Oops. Also might have given said toad the impression that you left your post last night because you and I are, wait for it, lovers in league against Satan." Crowley chuckled. "Hello, darling. So, now death is off the table. Now you get to be on the boss's eternal-torment list with little old me."

"Oh, no, no. No."

"Something else we have in common, apart from our torrid passion, of course. Craven self-preservation. So, now, why don't you tell me where Pestilence is at?"

A loud howl sounded in the distance, my eyes widening in fear. I knew that sound.

"Oh, god, Crowley." Brady muttered.

"Was that a hellhound?" Dean asked.

"I'd say yeah." Crowley nodded.

" _Why_ was that a hellhound?" I pressed. Crowley let out a groan, pulling out a coin.

"What's that?" Sam asked.

Crowley glanced back to us. "Remember I was telling you about my crafty little tracking device?"

"Yeah."

"Demons planted one on me."

"You're saying a hellhound followed you here?"

"Well, technically, he followed this." He said, holding up the coin.

"Get me out of here." Brady panicked. "I'll tell you anything you want."

Sam glared at him. "Shut up."

"We should- we should go." I said, my voice shaking.

"Sorry. No one knows more about the hounds than I. You're long past the point of _go_. You can see them though, should give you a slight advantage." Crowley said, tossing his coin to me, disappearing.

"Damn it."

Sam huffed, looking to his brother. "I told you!"

"Oh, well, good for you." Dean mumbled sarcastically. "Luckily, we have salt in the kitchen."

"I'll watch Brady."

"Watch me? Get me the hell out of here!" Brady demanded as Dean and I went back to the kitchen, searching for the salt, our shotguns with us.

My breathing picked up as I heard the howls getting closer and closer. Before I knew it, a hellhound crashed through the window. I quickly shot at it, sending it flying backwards as Dean and I ran back out of the kitchen.

"Sammy!" Dean called as we ran into the room he was in.

"Damn it, get me out of here!" Brady shouted.

"Shut up!" The boys yelled in unison.

"Great. Just great."

"I swear, if you don't zip it, I am doing to shoot a round into your face." I threatened, turning around as a bigger hellhound stepped into the room, Crowley following close behind. "You're back?"

"I'm invested. Currently." Crowley replied, looking to the hound next to him. "Stay."

"You can control them?" Dean asked.

"Not that one." Crowley said, pointing to the hellhound that was approaching behind us, patting the one next to him on the head. "I brought my own. And mine's bigger. Sic him, boy!"

The hellhound next to Crowley charged the other, knocking it to the ground. They began to fight, biting and clawing at each other.

"Alright, go!" Dean exclaimed, gently pushing me towards the door, Sam following with Brady.

* * *

 **ALLEY – NIGHT**

"I'm sure pestilence will be there." Brady said, handing Crowley a piece of paper. "Thanks."

"What do you think?" Dean asked.

"It's good." Crowley said, looking back to Brady. "You got no reason to lie, have you? Like I said before, you're in my boat now."

"You've screwed me for eternity.

"Nah. Won't last that long. Trust me." Crowley said, turning to leave as Dean and I began laying down a line of salt, Sam standing behind us. Crowley looked at Sam, nodding. "I expect we'll be in touch."

"What is this?"

"Me doing to a favor." Crowley said. I let Crowley pass before closing the line, keeping Brady locked inside.

"All those angels, all those demons, all those sons of bitches. They just don't get it, do they, Sammy?" Dean asked from my right, looking over at his brother as he walked up, standing to my life.

"No, they don't, Dean." Sam said.

I narrowed my eyes at the demon. "You see, Brady...we're the ones you should be afraid of."

Brady scoffed, watching Sam as he stepped over the line of salt, Ruby's knife out. "I bet this is a real moment for you, big boy. Gonna make you feel all better?"

"It's a start."

"Gonna make up for all the times that we yanked your chain? Yellow eyes, Ruby, me? But it wasn't all our fault, was it? No. You're the one who trusted us. You're the one who let us into your life, let us whisper in your ear over and over and over again. Ever wonder why that is, Sammy? Ever wonder why we were so in your blind spot? Maybe it's because we got the same stuff in our veins and, deep down, you know you're just like us. Maybe you hate us so much because you hate what you see every time you look in the mirror. You ever think of that?! Maybe the only difference between you and a demon...is your hell is right here."

"Interesting theory." Sam said through gritted teeth, stabbing Brady hard in the stomach, letting his body fall to the ground before walking out of the alley, past both Dean and I.

* * *

 **IMPALA – NIGHT**

To get back to Bobby's in the morning, we decided to drive straight through, each of us taking turns behind the wheel while the others rested. It was my turn to drive, leaving Sam in the passenger seat and Dean in the back, sound asleep.

"Tori?" Sam called, his voice low. I was almost startled by the sound of it. He hadn't spoken at all after what Brady said.

"Yeah?"

"Do you- do you think Brady was right?"

"Right about what?"

"About me."

"What, that you're just like them- like demons?" I asked looking over at him in confusion, seeing him only nod in response. "Sam, that's ridiculous."

"I've fought with this for a long time, Tori." Sam swallowed hard.

"We all have a dark side, Sam.

"But it _is_ in my veins-"

"So? That means absolutely nothing. Angel blood is in my veins. And for the most part, they're all dicks. Does that make me...bad?"

"Of course not."

"Then it's the same with you. Sam you're selfless, you go out of your way to help people. You always have. Maybe you made a couple mistakes, we all have. But you're nothing like them. Nothing." I said fiercely, looking over to him. "You understand?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Don't call me that. It makes me feel old." I joked. Sam chuckled lightly. "It's gonna be okay, Shorty."

"Yeah?" Sam asked, looking over a me, his eyes telling me he didn't believe that at all. I thought back to what he'd said before, about taking Lucifer to the pit, and it immediately brought tears to my eyes.

There had to be another way. We were just missing it. But we'd find it. We had to. Because I couldn't watch him do that.

I reached over, placing my hand on top of his, squeezing it lightly, my voice breaking slightly as I spoke no matter how much I tried to mask it. "Yeah. Yeah, it will."

* * *

 **Oh, hi Crowley ;) ;) ;)**

 **Only two more chapters! D:**

 **Thanks for reading! Leave a review or send a PM! I live for that shit ;D**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction**


	23. Two Minutes to Midnight

_Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby  
It's been a long, long road  
It's been a long, long dream  
Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby  
God knows I gave them hell  
God knows I tried_

… _._

 _Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby  
There's not a thing I would change  
My heart stayed in the flames  
Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby  
It's been a beautiful tragedy_

 _But at least I can say  
At least I can say I loved  
But at least I can say  
But at least I can say I lived  
When I lay down and die  
At least I can say I lived _

_**In This Moment – 11:11**_

* * *

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Dean snapped at his brother.

We'd barely been back at Bobby's for five hours when Sam unveiled his plan to his brother. I tried to stop him, telling him it was useless. Dean would never let him do it. Neither would I. He could just forget about it.

Sam shook his head, letting out a breath. "Dean-"

"No. Don't _Dean_ , me. I mean, you- you have had some stupid ideas in the past, But this-" Dean paused, looking to Bobby and I. "Did either of you know about this?" As Bobby nodded, I averted my eyes away from Dean's, immediately telling him. "Well, thanks for the heads up!"

"Hey, it ain't our fault!" Bobby grumbled.

"You can't do this, Sam."

"That's the consensus." Sam mumbled.

"Alright. Awesome. Then, end of discussion."

My phone rang and I picked it up, not reconsigning the number. "Hello?"

" _Victoria?_ "

"Cas? We- we all thought you were dead. Where are you? "

" _A hospital._ "

"Are you okay?"

" _No._ "

"No? What's wrong?"

" _I'm not sure. I just woke up here. The doctors were fairly surprised. They thought I was brain-dead. Apparently, after Van Nuys, I suddenly appeared, bloody and unconscious, on a shrimping boat off Delacroix. I'm told it upset the sailors._ "

"Well, you have good timing. We just figured out a way to put Lucifer back."

"Back?"

"Into the cage."

" _How?_ "

"It's a long story. We're going after Pestilence now. Maybe you could head over here? Like now? We could use your help."

" _I can't._ "

"What do you mean?"

" _You could say my batteries are- are drained._ "

"Are you saying that all your power is gone?"

" _I'm saying that I am thirsty and my head aches. I have a bug bite that itches no matter how much I scratch it, and I'm saying that I'm just incredibly-_ "

"Human." I finished, seeing Dean and Sam's eyes widen. "Cas-"

" _My point is, I can't do anywhere without money for...an airplane ride. And food. And more pain medication, ideally._ "

"Okay. Bobby is here. He'll wire you the money."

"I will?" Bobby asked, raising his eyebrows.

" _Victoria-_ "

"Yes, you will." I told him.

"Vic-"

"Bobby."

" _Victoria?_ " Cas called again.

"What?"

" _Dean said no to Michael._ "

"Yeah, he did."

" _I owe him an apology._ "

"Yes, you do. Rest up. You can worry about saying sorry later, okay?"

" _Alright._ "

"Get here safe, okay?"

" _Yes._ "

* * *

 **SERENITY VALLEY CONVALESCENT HOME – DAY**

The pure white building was sat back on a moderately large property, looking unassuming and nonthreatening, on any other day, that is. My stomach churned with nervous energy as we pulled up in front of it, staying in the Impala.

"So this is Dr. Evil's lair, huh?" Dean asked.

"It's kind of more depressing than evil." Sam commented.

"It's like a four-color brochure for dying young. Of course, to Pestilence, it's probably Dollywood in there."

"Great. A whole building full of people. We don't know who's human. With Tori being the way she's be, we don't know who's a demon. And we definitely don't know Pestilence is. So what do we do?"

"We'll figure it out." Dean said, stepping out of the Impala. "Come on. The three of us walked in around the back, Sam and I hanging back while Dean went up to the security guard standing there, looking gruff. "Hi. I'm looking for my Nana. Her name is...Eunice Kennedy."

"Go around front and see the nurse." The guard mumbled.

"You mind just helping me out, sir? She's about, uh, about that small and gray hair, wears diapers." Dean explained before punching the guard, knocking him out cold.

"Eunice Kennedy?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's the beauty about improv, baby. You never know what's gonna come out of your mouth."

"So, what are-" I paused, seeing Dean about to fall asleep, tapping his arm. "Hey, now's not the time for a nap. What are we even looking for?"

"Well, he's Pestilence, so he probably looks sick."

"Everybody looks sick." Sam said. We made our way thorough the building, ounding a corner to find the dead bodies or a nurse and doctor. I felt a sharp pain in my stomach, looking over to Sam to see him beginning to cough up blood. "Must be getting close.

"Oh, really? I wasn't sure." I mumbled sarcastically, seeing Dean begin to stumbled to the ground next to me, thing to get him up to his feet. "Dean? Dean, come on."

In trying to help Dean, I fell to the ground on my hands and knees alongside of him, coughing violently, a glob of blood falling out of my mouth and onto the linoleum floor.

"The doctor will see you now." A woman smiled as a balding man stepped out of one of them room. Sam pulled out his knife, trying to hold it steady as he hand shook. Not before long, he was on the ground, too.

"Sam. Dean. Victoria." Pestilence smiled. "Come right in."

The nurse easily dragged us into the room, slamming the door behind her. My insides felt like they were being twisted around, every time I coughed thought on organ was about to fly out along with the blood.

"You three don't look well. It might be the, uh, Scarlet fever. Or, uh, the meningitis. Or the syphilis. That's no fun. However you feel right now? It's gonna get so very, very much worse. Questions? Disease gets a bad rap, don't you think? For being filthy. Chaotic. But, really, t- that just describes people who get sick. Disease itself is very...pure. Single-minded. Bacteria have one purpose, divide and conquer." Pestilence muttered, stepping on Dean's hand. "That's why, in the end, it always wins. So, you've got to wonder why God pours all his love into something so messy and weak. It's ridiculous. All I can do is show him he's wrong, one epidemic at a time. Now...on a scale of one to ten how's your pain?"

I glared at him, gritting my teeth through the pain in my stomach, coughing up more blood. Behind me, I heard the door open, looking up to see Cas.

"How'd you get here?" Pestilence asked.

"I took a bus. Don't worry, I-" Cas fell to the ground, coughing.

"Well, look at that. An occupied vessel, but powerless. Oh, that's fascinating. There's not a speck of angel in you, is there?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Cas grabbed Sam's knife, reaching up, holding onto Pestilence's arm, cutting of his ring and pinky finger. "Maybe just a speck."

* * *

 **BOBBY'S HOUSE – DAY**

The blanket was draped over my legs as I sat on the couch, sipping on a cup of tea. Pestilence's affects weren't wholly lasting, I only felt a small amount of soreness in my throat from the constant coughing. But hey, I've had worse. Cas sat next to me, awkwardly holding the cup of tea in his hands. He was curiously watching the entire time I made it, so I figured I might as well give him some.

But of course, he was rather unimpressed by it, saying that it just tasted like dirty water.

"Dean?" Cas called.

Dean looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"I have to apologize. You said no to Michael."

"Yeah."

"You are not the burnt and broken shell of a man that I believed you to be."

Dean froze for a moment before nodding. "Thank you, I appreciate that."

"You're welcome." Cas said. I glanced over at him, smiling a little. God, he was clueless.

"Bobby inspected the ring, looking up at us. "Well, it's nice to actually score a home run for once, ain't it?"

"Yeah." Sam scoffed.

"What?"

"Last thing Pestilence said, _it's too late_."

"He get specific?"

"No."

"We're just a little freaked out that he might have left a bomb somewhere." Dean said. "So please tell us you have actual good news."

"Chicago's about to be wiped off the map. Storm of the millennium. Sets off a daisy chain of natural disasters. Three million people are gonna die."

Cas cocked his head to the side, his brows furrowed. "I don't understand your definition of good news."

"Well, Death, the horseman, he's gonna be there." Bobby explained. "And if we can stop him before he kick-starts this storm, get his ring back-"

"Yeah, you make it sound so easy." Dean scoffed.

"Hell, I'm just trying to put a spin on it."

"Bobby, how did you put all this together, anyway?" I asked.

"I had, you know...help."

"Don't be so modest." Crowley appeared next to Bobby, who say behind his desk. "I barely helped at all. Hello boys." Crowley smiled at Sam and Dean, turning to me. "Girl."

"You?" I narrowed my eyes at the demon.

"Me. Pleasure, et cetera." Crowley grinned, patting Bobby on the shoulder. "Go ahead. Tell them. There's no shame in it."

Sam furrowed his brow. "Tell us what?"

"World's gonna end." Bobby shrugged. "Seems stupid to get all precious over one little...soul."

My eyes widened as Dean exploded. "You sold your soul?"

"Oh, more like pawned it." Crowley muttered. "I fully intend to give it back."

"Well, then give it back!"

"I will."

"Now!" I exclaimed.

"Did you kiss him?" Sam asked out of the blue.

"Sam!" Dean scolded, shaking his head at his brother.

"Just wondering."

"No." Bobby shook his head. Crowley pulled out his phone, holding up a picture of him and Bobby kissing. "Why'd you take a picture?"

"Why do you have to use tongue?"

"Okay, you know what, Crowley? I'm sick of you." I said, standing up.

"Is that so?"

"Give Bobby his soul back. Now."

"I'm sorry. I can't."

"Can't or won't?" Dean asked.

"I won't, alright? It's insurance."

"What are you talking about?"

"You kill demons." Crowley said, nodding to me. " _She-ra_ over there has a temper issue about it. But you won't kill me...as long as I have that soul in the deposit box."

"You son of a bitch." Bobby hissed.

"I'll return it. After all this is over, and I can walk safely away. Do we all understand each other?"

* * *

After a few minutes of silence, Sam dragged Dean and I outside, stopping by one of Bobby's old scrap cars. Dean let out a huff, rolling his eyes. "Let me guess. We're about to have a talk."

"Look, for the record, I agree with you. About me. You think I'm too weak to take on Lucifer. Well, so do I. Believe me, I know exactly how screwed up I am. Both of you, Bobby, Cas...I'm the least of any of you."

"Sam, that's not true." I said adamantly.

"No, it's true. It is. But I'm also all we got. If there was another way...but I don't think there is. There's just me. So I don't know what else to do. Except just try t- to do what's got to be done."

"And...scene." Crowley said, appearing out of thin air, handing Sam a newspaper. "There's something you need to see."

"Niveus pharmaceuticals is rushing delivery of its new swine-flu vaccine to _stem the tide of the unprecedented outbreak_. Shipments leave Wednesday."

"Niveus pharmaceuticals. Get it?" Crowley asked, rolling his eyes at our blank looks. "You three are lucky you have your looks. Your demon lover, Brady? V.P. of distribution, Niveus. Ah, yes, that the sound of the abacus clacking? We all caught up?

"So, pestilence was spreading swine flu."

"Yeah, but not just for shits and giggles. That was step one. Step two is the vaccine." Dean said, glancing over to Crowley. "And you think-"

"I _know_. I'll stake my reputation, that vaccine is chock-full of grade-a, farm-fresh croatoan virus."

"Simultaneous, countrywide distribution." I muttered. "That's quite a plan."

"They don't get to be horsemen for nothing. So, you three better stock up on...well, everything. This time next Thursday, we'll all be living in _Zombieland_."

* * *

We explained everything to Bobby, all of us figuring out a plan of action. We'd wait for the morning, then Cas, Bobby and Sam would head to Niveus, while Dean, myself and, as much as I hated it, Crowley, went to get the last ring.

You know, from _Death_. No big deal.

"What's your problem?" Bobby asked the angel standing beside his wheel chair.

"This is what they mean by _the eleventh hour_ , right?" Castiel asked.

"Pretty much."

"Well, it's the eleventh hour, and I am useless." Cas waved the shotgun in his hand. "All I have is this. What am I even supposed to do with it?"

"Point it and shoot."

"What I used to be-"

"Are you really gonna bitch to me? Quit pining for the varsity years and load the damn truck." Bobby scolded, leaving Cas looking reprimanded.

"Good luck stopping the whole zombie apocalypse." Dean said.

"Yeah. Good luck killing Death." Sam replied, shaking his head. "Remember when we used to just...hunt Wendigos? How simple things were?"

"Not really."

"Well, um, you might need this."

Sam pulled out Ruby's knife, about to hand it to us when Crowley showed up, again, handing Dean a small scythe. "Keep it. They're covered. Death's own. Kills, golly, demons and angels and reapers and, rumor has it, the very thing itself."

"How did you get that?" Cas inquired.

"Hello, King of the Crossroads. So, shall we?" Crowley asked, glancing down to Bobby. "You just gonna sit there?"

"No, I'm gonna riverdance." Bobby replied sarcastically.

"I suppose if you want to impress the ladies...Bobby, Bobby, Bobby. Really wasted that crossroads deal. Fact, you get more if you phrase it properly. So, I took the liberty of adding a teeny little sub-a clause on your behalf. What can I say? I'm an altruist. Just gonna sit there?"

Bobby stared up at him for a moment, glancing over to me before shakily standing up out of his wheelchair. "Son of a bitch."

"Holy shit." I breathed, watching in awe.

"Yes, I know." Crowley nodded, looking to me. "I'm a hell of a guy, no?"

"Don't get too ahead of yourself."

"Thanks." Bobby told the demon.

"This is getting maudlin." Crowley complained. "Can we go?"

* * *

SPOV

Once I finished telling him my plan, Castiel stared at me blankly, his brow furrowed. I raised an eyebrow. "Say something."

"It's an interesting plan."

"That's a word for it." Bobby scoffed.

"Go ahead and tell me it's the worst plan you've ever heard." I said.

"Of course. I am happy to say that if that's what you want to hear." Cas nodded. "But it's not what I think."

"Really?" I asked, shocked.

"You Winchester's have a habit of exceeding my expectations. Maybe you could resist Lucifer, but there are things that you would need to know."

"Like?"

"Michael has found another vessel."

"What?"

"Your brother Adam. You must have considered it."

"We were trying tnot to."

"Sam, if you say yes to Lucifer and then fail, this fight will happen. And the collateral, it'll be immense. There's also the demon blood."

"What are you talking about?"

"To take in Lucifer, it would be more than you've ever drunk."

"Why?"

"It strengthens the vessel. Keeps it from exploding."

"But the guy he's in now-"

"He's drinking gallons." Castiel said, my stomach sinking at the it wasn't enough to stop me, no matter how scared I was.

* * *

TPOV

By the time we'd reached Chicago, the sun was hanging in the cloudy, overcast sky. I looked out the windows, watching people walk by peacefully, no clue of what was about to happen.

"Hey, let's stop for pizza."

"Jesus Chirst!" I exclaimed, startled by Crowley, who appeared in the backseat.

"Are you kidding?" Dean asked.

"Just heard it was good." The demon shrugged. "That's all. Up ahead. Big, ugly building. Ground zero. Horseman's stable, if you will. He's in there."

"How do you know?"

"Have you met me? 'Cause I know. Also, the block is squirming with reapers. I'll be right back."

I shook my head as Crowley disappeared. "He's really getting on my nerves."

"Don't worry, after all this, he'll be out of our hair for good." Dean muttered.

"You mean when I kill him, right?"

"Boy, is my face red." Crowley mumbled, re-appearing in the backseat. "Death's not in there."

"You want to cut the cute and get to the part where you tell me where he is?" Dean snapped.

"Sorry. I don't know."

"Whoa, ait a minute. You don't know?

"Signs pointed. I'm just as shocked as you."

I glared back at him. "Bobby sold his soul for this, you bastard!"

"Relax. All deals are soul back or store credit. We'll catch Death in the next doomed city."

"Millions, Crowley." Dean said. "Millions of people are about to die any minute."

"True. So I strongly suggest we get out of here." Crowley mumbled, disappearing.

"So, what do we do? Call in a bomb threat? One thousand bomb threats?"

"I don't know." I shrugged.

"How the hell are we supposed to get three million people out of Chicago in the next ten minutes?"

Outside a few storefronts down, Crowley appeared, beginning to speak. I rolled my eyes. "We can't hear you!"

"I said I found him." Crowley appeared in the car again. "Death, he's in there."

"You coming or-" Dean stopped, looking back to see that Crowley was gone again. "Not."

"Are we really doing this?" I asked, nervousness filling me as Dean stopped the car in front of the pizzeria.

"Yup."

"Yup? You're way too chill about all of this, Dean."

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know, we're about to go talk to fucking Death, say something."

"Okay. I'm shitting myself right now. There, happy?"

"Yeah." I nodded, pulling in a deep breath, grabbing his hand, stopping him from exiting the car. "Wait."

"What?" Dean asked, watching me as I closed the space in between us, kissing him passionately. His eyes fluttered open as I pulled back, letting out a breath. "What was that for?"

"Just in case we don't make it out."

A somber look crossed Dean's eyes as he nodded, placing one more kiss on my lips before the both of us exited the Impala, walking up to the pizzeria. We braced ourselves before entering the practically empty building. There was only one man sitting at the table in the middle of the room, his thin figure dressed in a crisp black suit and tie.

The scythe Dean carried began to glow red in his palm, and quickly dropped it, letting out a hiss in pain. The weapon reappeared next to the man, who peered up at us.

"Thanks for returning that. Sit down, join me. The pizza's delicious." Death said, patting the corners of his mouth with a napkin. Dean and I shared a look, each of us pulling a chair out on the opposite end of him. "Took you long enough to find me. I've been wanting to talk to the both of you."

"I got to say, I have mixed feelings about that. Is this the part where- where you kill us?" Dean asked.

"You have an inflated sense of your importance. To a thing like me, a thing like you, well...think how you'd feel if a bacterium sat at your table and started to get snarky. This is one little planet in one tiny solar system in a galaxy that's barely out of its diapers. I'm old. Very old. So I invite you to contemplate how insignificant I find you." He mumbled dryly, gesturing to the pizza. "Eat."

Both Dean and I picked up a slice of pizza. He took a bite, chewing slowly. Truth be told, I wanted to vomit right now, but still forced myself to take a small bite. Death nearly cracked a smile. "Good, isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah." I nodded, placing the piece back down.

Dean looked up. "I gotta ask, how old are you?"

"As old as God. Maybe older. Neither of us can remember anymore." Death said. "Life, death, chicken, egg. Regardless, at the end, I'll reap him, too."

"Y- you'll reap God?" I asked in shock.

"Oh, yes. God will die, too, Victoria."

"Well, this is way above our pay grade." Dean breathed, staring down at the table.

"Just a bit."

"Then why are we still breathing, sitting here with you? W-what do you want?"

"The leash around my neck – off. Lucifer has me bound to him. Some unseemly little spell. He has me where he wants, when he wants. That's why I couldn't go to you. I had to wait for you to catch up. He made me his weapon. Hurricanes, floods, raising the dead. I'm more powerful than you can process, and I'm enslaved to a bratty child with a temper tantrum."

"And you think we can unbind you?"

"There's your ridiculous bravado again. Of course you can't. But you can help me take the bullets out of Lucifer's gun. I understand you want this." He said, holding up his hand, showing us his ring.

"Yeah."

"I'm inclined to give it to you?"

"You are?" I asked.

"That's what I said."

"But what about-"

"Chicago? I suppose it can stay. I like the pizza." Death muttered, glancing down to the pizza for a moment before looking back to Dean and I. "There are conditions."

"Okay." Dean nodded. "Like?"

"You have to do whatever it takes to put Lucifer in his cell."

"Of course."

" _Whatever_ it takes."

"That's the plan."

"No. No plan. Not yet. our brother, he's the one that can stop Lucifer-"

"What about me?" I asked. "My- my grace?"

"You won't take it."

I shook my head. "I would if I had to-"

"Listen to me." Death said, raising his voice only slightly, enough to make me stop. "You cannot argue with certainty. I am certainty. You will not take the grace. Sam is the only one who can stop Lucifer now. So I need a promise."

"Okay, yeah." Dean nodded, looking over to me, silently telling me to agree.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"That had better be _yes_." He said. "You know you can't cheat death. Now, would you like the instruction manual?"

* * *

The entire drive back to Bobby's, the car was filled with nothing but silence, the only talking we did was calling Bobby, letting him know what happened, his words rang through my head, making everything seem worse.

" _Sam's got a darkness in him. I'm not saying he don't. But he's got a hell of a lot of good in him, too. Sam will beat the devil...or die trying. That's the best we could ask for. So what exactly are you afraid of? Losing, or losing your brother?_ "

For once, I felt like we had nothing to say, Dean and I. We were both worried, both scared. Every time I thought about Sam's how this was going to end, my chest clenched uncomfortably, my eyes welling up.

How on earth did we just promise to let this happen?

* * *

 ** _Oh, Death_** **...one chapter left, guys!**


	24. Swan Song

**If you like doing this sort of thing, I highly suggest listening to** ** _The Forgotten_** **by** ** _Green Day_** **while reading this chapter.**

 **Okay...deep breaths...here we go.**

* * *

 _Where in the world's the forgotten?  
They're lost inside your memory  
You're dragging on, your heart's been broken  
As we all go down in history _

_Where in the world did the time go?  
It's where your spirit seems to roam  
Like losing faith to our abandon  
Or an empty hallway from a broken home _

… _._

 _I don't feel strange, it's more like content  
Another moment trapped in time  
I can't quite put my finger on it  
But it's like a child that was left behind _

_So where in the world's the forgotten?  
Like soldiers from a long lost war  
We share the scars from our abandon  
And what we remember becomes folklore _

…

 _Don't look away from the arms of a moment  
Don't look away from the arms of tomorrow  
Well, don't look away from the arms of a moment  
Don't look away from the arms of love_

 _Don't look away from the arms of a bad dream  
Don't look away  
Sometimes you're better lost than to be seen_

 _ **Green Day – The Forgotten**_

* * *

The sky above seemed permanently dark, and I wasn't sure if it was because of the literal end of the all things, or because of what I knew was going to happen to try and stop said _end_. Either way, I'd lose someone I loved. Either way, life would be horrible afterwords.

I swallowed hard, making my way to Dean's side, the both of us sharing a look before heading over to Sam, who sat on the hood of the Impala, drinking a beer. Dean grabbed two out of the cooler that sat beside the tire, handing one to me. I simply took it to have something to concentrate on, I didn't want it.

I needed something much, much stronger.

"Hey." Sam muttered, seeing the look on my face. "What's going on?"

"We're in." Dean said.

"In with…?"

"The whole _up with Satan_ thing. We're on board."

Sam looked surprised, his eyes darting between the two of us. "You're gonna let me say yes?"

"No. That's the thing. It's not on us to _let_ you do anything. You're a grown – well, overgrown – man. If this is what you want, we'll back your play."

"That's the last thing I thought you'd ever say." Sam said. I kept quiet, looking towards the ground.

"Might be. I'm not gonna lie to you, though. It goes against every fiber I got. I mean, truth is, you know, watching out for you..it's kinda been my job, you know? But more than that, it's- it's kinda who I am. You're not a kid anymore, Sam, and I can't keep treating you like one. Maybe I got to grow up a little, too. I don't know if we got a snowball's chance. But- but I do know that if anybody can do it... it's you."

"Thank you."

"Only if this is what you want." I said, praying to anything out there that he would back out. "Is this what you really want?"

Sam nodded. "I let him out. I got to put him back in."

"Okay." Dean said. "That's it, then."

* * *

If I was being perfectly honest, I was just going through the motions, trying to be there for Sam and Dean. In reality, my mind had checked out the moment we agreed to this. I just watched my little brother drain bodies dry of their blood so he could drink it. I didn't want to feel, I didn't want to think.

Dean made sure to stay close to me as we walked out of the building, making our way over to Bobby as Sam and Cas carried out two large jugs full of blood.

"I still can't get used to you at eye-level." Dean muttered.

"So, was I right?" Bobby asked.

"As always, Yoda. Two stunt demons inside, just like you said."

"Did you get it?"

"Yeah, all the _go juice_ Sammy can drink."  
Bobby looked between Dean and eye, concern in his eyes. "You okay?"

"Not really." Dean answered for the both of us, changing the subject. "What do you got?"

"Not much. These look like omens to you?" He asked, handing Dean a newspaper. "Cyclone in Florida, temperature drop in Detroit, wildfires in L.A."

"What, what about Detroit?"

"Temp's dropped about twenty degrees, but only in a five-block radius of downtown Motown."

"That's the one. Devil's in Detroit."

"Really? As far as foreboding goes, it's a little light in the loafers. You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm sure."

* * *

 **IMPALA – NIGHT**

As we drove down the long, dark highway, I stared out the window, listening to Castiel's breaths as he slept next to me in the backseat, his head leaning against the window. Dean drove, Sam sat in the passenger seat, like always.

"Sam, I got a bad feeling about this." Dean muttered.

"Well, you'd be nuts to have a good feeling about it."

"You know what I mean. Detroit. He always said he'd jump your bones in Detroit. Here we are."

"Here we are."

"Maybe this is him rolling out the red carpet, you know? Maybe he knows something that we don't.

"Dean, I'm sure he knows a buttload we don't. We just got to hope he doesn't know about the rings." Sam said, glancing back to me. "Hey, Tori? You awake?"

"Yeah?" I asked, looking to him.

"There's something I want to talk to you guys about."

"W- what?"

"This thing goes our way and I _Triple Lindy_ into that box...y-you know I'm not coming back." Sam mumbled. Instantly tears filled my eyes.

"Yeah, I'm aware." Dean replied, his voice thick with emotion.

"So you got to promise me something, both of you."

"Okay, yeah. Anything."

"You got to promise not to try to bring me back."

"What?"

"No, Sam." I shook my head.

"We didn't sign up for that. Your hell is gonna make my tour look like Graceland. You want us just to sit by and do nothing?"

"Once the Cage is shut, you can't go poking at it, Dean." Sam said. "It's too risky."

"No. As if we're just gonna let you rot in there."

"Yeah, you are. You don't have a choice."

"You can't ask us to do this, Sam." I murmured, sniffling.

"I'm sorry. You have to." Sam said, glancing back at me. "Remember how things were when Dean went to hell? How we were? How we acted?"

"Yeah."

"I don't want that to happen to you again. I don't want that to happen to you, Dean." Sam said to his brother, pulling in a deep breath. "What I want is for the both of you to go and get married. Get a house in the suburbs. Have barbecues and go to football games. Have kids. Go live some normal, apple-pie life."

"Sam-"

"Promise me." Sam said fiercely, looking between his brother and I. Dean and I shared a look, the heartbreak on our faces clear as day.

What else could we do?

* * *

 **DETROIT ALLEYWAY – NIGHT**

We met up again with Bobby in Detroit, hiding out in a dimly alleyway...waiting for Sam to be ready.

Bobby looked though his binoculars one more time before walking back over to us at the trunk of the Impala. "Demons. At least two dozen of them. You were right, something's up."

"More than something. He's here. I know it." Dean said.

"Are you- is he talking to you?' Bobby asked me.

I shook my head. "No, it's- it's eerily silent."

"Great." Bobby muttered, turning to Sam, trying to not show how emotional he was getting."I'll see you around, kid."

Sam smiled sadly. "See you around."

Bobby grabbed him, pulling him in for a tight hug. "He gets in, you fight him tooth and nail, you understand? Keep swinging. Don't give an inch."

"Yes, sir." Sam nodded, holding out his hand to Cas as Bobby backed away. "Take care of these guys, okay?"

"That's not really possible anymore." Castiel replied, taking Sam's hand.

"Then humor me."

"Oh. I was supposed to lie. Uh, sure. They'll be fine."

"Just- just stop talking." Sam said, turning to the trunk where the jugs of demon blood sat, glancing back at us. "You mind not watching this?"

With that, Dean wrapped an arm around my waist, the both of us walking over to the other side of the alley. I placed my forehead against his chest as he held me to him, resting his chin on top of my head, neither one of us saying anything.

A few minutes later, Sam cleared his throat, closing the trunk, glancing back to us, silently telling us he was ready. I looked back to Bobby and Cas for a moment before walking with Dean, following Sam up to the building.

"Alright, we're here, you sons of bitches!" Sam called. "Come and get it!"

Three demons came outside, grabbing each of us, harshly guiding us into the building, up to one of the higher floors. As we entered the room, I saw him standing in front of a window, his reflection smiling at us.

"Hey, guys. So nice of you to drop in." He muttered, breathing on the glass, drawing a pitch-fork in the condensation. "Sorry if it's a bit chilly. Most people think I burn hot. It's actually quite the opposite."

"Well, I'll alert the media." Dean retorted.

Lucifer turned, showing the wear on his vessel, the painful looking wounds covering his face. "Help me understand something, guys. I mean, stomping through my front door is...a tad suicidal, don't you think?"

"We're not here to fight you." Sam said.

"No? Then why are you here?"

"I want to say yes."

"Excuse me?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow. Sam closed his eyes, making the demons behind us die in a wave of light. Lucifer grinned. "Chock-full of Ovaltine, are we?"

"You heard me. Yes."

"You're serious?"

"Look, Judgment Day's a runaway train. We get it now. We just want off."

"Meaning?"

"Deal of the century. I give you a free ride, but when it's all over, I live, he lives. Tori lives. You bring our parents back-"

"Okay, can we please drop the telenovela? I know you have the rings, Sam." He said, my heart sinking.

Sam swallowed. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"The Horsemen's rings? The magic keys to my Cage? Ring a bell? Come on, Sam. I've never lied to you. You could at least pay me the same respect. It's okay. I'm not mad. A wrestling match inside your noggin...I like the idea. Just you and me, one round, no tricks. You win, you jump in the hole. I win..." He chuckled. "Well, then I win. What do you say, Sam? A fiddle of gold against your soul says I'm better than you."

"No, Sam." I said, pleading with him.

"So he knows." Sam shrugged, trying to play it off. "Doesn't change anything."

"Sam." Dean called.

"We don't have another choice."

"No."

Sam looked back to Lucifer, staring into his eyes. "Yes."

Lucifer shut his eyes, a bright light beginning to emanate from him, blazing whiteness filling the room. I shut my eyes, until the light dimmed again, both Dean and I frantically looking around the room until we saw Sam slumped over in the corner, motionless. I knelt next to him while Dean pulled the rings out of his pocket, throwing them against the wall where they stuck in a pattern.

" _Bvtmon...Tabges...Babalon."_ Dean recited, a hole appearing in the wall where the rings were. Air began sucking into it, whipping my hair around my face.

"Sam?" I called as he started to wake up, lifting his face in my hands. "Sam?!"

Dean came over, looking down at his brother with scared eyes. "Sammy!"

"I can feel him. Oh, god!" Sam groaned as Dean and I helped him to his feet.

"You got to go now! Come on, go now, Sammy. Now!"

With out help, Sam walked towards the hole, taking a few deep breaths before turning back to us with a wicked smile. In that instant, I knew.

"I was just messing with you. Sammy's long gone." He all but giggled, turning back to the wall. " _Chdr bvtmon tabges babalon."_

I watched helplessly as he grabbed the rings, tears flowing down my cheeks. The hole shut and he looked back, smiling at Dean, who stared at him with gritted teeth, tears welling in his eyes.

"I told you... this would always happen in Detroit. But there's something I didn't tell you." In a flash, Lucifer grabbed my arm. "I'm gonna need to borrow her." He smiled, waving at Dean. "Bye-bye."

* * *

DPOV

In the blink of an eye, he was gone, along with Tori. I looked around the room, panic rising in my chest. As fast as I could, I ran back downstairs and out into the alley. Bobby and Cas looked up, their eyes widening when they saw they I was alone.

"Sam couldn't get him." I said, breathing heavily. "He took her, he took Tori!"

* * *

TPOV

The building Lucifer had brought me to was rundown and dirty, completely dark except for the few street lights that shone through the windows, creating shadows inside. He'd handcuffed me to one of the pipes lining the wall, giving me a chair to sit on, pulling up another right in front of me, straddling it, leaning his arms on the back.

I couldn't look at his face, I didn't want to see Sam like that.

"I'd say this conversation is long overdue, huh? How do you feel? Want some water? Food? I know you need that sometimes." Lucifer said, a smile in his voice. I didn't answer, glaring at the ground. "Silent treatment? Okay, I get it. You're playing the part of the bratty niece perfectly."

"I love you, Sam." I murmured, looking into Sam's eyes, completely ignoring Lucifer, who shook his head.

"Sam can't hear you now, Vicki. Listen, I understand that it must be confusing, knowing what you do now, where you come from. How does one deal with that? I mean, I have no idea. But I bet it's just about as fun as being sent away by your family." I furrowed my brow. Lucifer nodded. "Your mother, she sent you away."

"To protect me."

"She died for you. _Because_ of you. Can you imagine if you had the power to stop that? To stop the ones you love from hurting? From dying? Have peace for evermore?"

"Peace?" I asked incredulously. "You'd bring peace?"

"To those that choose to follow me, yes."

"It's amazing how much I don't believe that."

"You hate me, I know. You just don't understand...what I've been through."

Lucifer looked at me, using Sam's puppy-dog look that always got to me, only it was completely insincere...and for some reason, that made me extremely angry. "Are you seriously about to give me a fucking sob story?"

"Excuse me?" Lucifer asked, looking surprised at my outburst.

What more can he do now? He needed me.

"You think you can guilt me into helping you? That you can just take away everything I love and I'll follow you like a dog?"

"If you don't-"

" _If I don't_ , what? You'll kill me? You can't. You need me. You need to keep that one shred of hope that I'll help you, alive."

"Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"God's favorite angel. The angel that fell all because he got a just a little bit jealous. The angel whose own _brother,_ the only one he though would help, didn't side with him." I hissed, venom in my voice, seeing him become angry. "Tell me, _Lucifer_. Camael didn't choose you. Why should I?"

In an instant, his hand was around my throat, his face inches from mine, I felt him squeeze my airways until they shut, and everything went black.

* * *

SPOV

Inside, I was screaming, the walls of my mind foggy and gray through Lucifer's eyes. He told Tori I couldn't hear her, but I could. I wanted so badly to tell her how much I loved her. To thank her for being someone I could always rely on. But I couldn't.

And I watched as he wrapped his hand around Tori's throat, squeezing until she passed out. I punched and kicked, trying to break free from his hold, but I couldn't do it.

"Sam. I can feel you...scratching away in there. Look.. I'll take the gag off, okay? You got me all wrong, kiddo. I'm not the bad guy here." Lucifer said, standing in front of a mirror.

Suddenly, I was able to speak, my voice hard and angry. "I'm gonna rip you apart from the inside out! Do you understand me?!"

"Such anger, young Skywalker. Look at what that got Vicki over there? Sammy, Who are you really angry with? Me? Or that face in the mirror?"

"I'm sure this is all a big joke to you, huh?"

"Not at all. I've been waiting for you for a long, long time. Come on, Sam. You have to admit – you can feel it, right?"

"What?"

"The exhilaration. And you know why that is? Because we're two halves made whole. _M.F.E.O._ Literally."

"This feels pretty damn far from good." I spat.

"I'm inside your grapefruit, Sam. You can't lie to me. I see it all – how odd you always felt, how out of place in that family of yours. And why shouldn't you have? I'm your real family."

"No, that's not true."

"It is. And I know you know it. All those times you ran away, you weren't running from them. You were running towards me. This doesn't have to be a bad thing, you know. I let Dean live, didn't I? I want him to live. I'll bring your folks back, too. I want you to be happy, Sam."

"I don't want anything from you."

"Really? Not even a little payback?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, watching Lucifer lift my hand, snapping my fingers. Five people appeared in the room.

"Look closely. None of these little devils look familiar to you?"

"That's Mr. Bensman, one of my grade-school teachers."

"And that's your friend Doug from that time in East Lansing. And Rachel...your prom date. Sam Winchester, this is your life. Azazel's gang – watching you since you were a rugrat, jerking you around like a dog on a leash. I know how you feel about them. Me too. So, what do you say you and I blow off a little steam?"

Lucifer stepped in front of Tori, snapping his fingers. She woke up with a gasp, looking around at all the people in the room in confusion.

"You're gonna want to see this." Lucifer said.

With a deep breath, he began ripping the bodies to shreds with my hands, their blood spilling everywhere. I heard Tori breathing heavier behind me, nearly hyperventilating. I tried to look anyway, to not see, but Lucifer would let me. Both Tori and I being force to watched the slaughter until they were all dead.

Lucifer sat down in the ground, looking at all the bodies, glancing up at Tori, who was nearly shaking, before looking back into the mirror at me, a grin appearing there. "So...are we having fun yet?"

* * *

DPOV

My mind couldn't seem to focus on one thing for longer than a few seconds. All I could think about was the fact that, now not only did Lucifer have Sam...he had Tori, too. And there was no telling what could come out of that situation.

Back at Bobby's I was nearly going crazy. There were no leads, no possible way of finding them. I didn't know what to do. I was lost.

I'd pray, but I knew that was pointless. So I went to the next best thing I could think of.

" _Mistress Magda?_ "

"Um, no, Chuck." I mumbled.

" _Oh, uh, Dean. Uh, wow. I- I didn't know that you'd call_."

"Who's Mistress Magda?"

" _Nothing- no- no one. She's a- a- just a- a close friend._ "

"Yeah, I'll bet. _Real_ close. Whatever happened to Becky?"

" _Didn't work out. I had too much respect for her._ "

"Boy, you really got a whole virgin/hooker thing going on, don't you?"

" _Okay, this can't be why you called._ "

"Sam said yes."

" _I know, I saw it. I'm just working on the pages._ "

"Yeah? You see that he took Tori, too?"

". _..yeah._ "

"Where?" I demanded.

" _I don't know, Dean_."

"Well did you see where the title fight goes down?"

" _The angels are keeping it top secret – very hush-hush._ " Chuck muttered, pulling in a breath. " _But I saw it anyway. Perks of being a prophet. It's tomorrow, high noon, place called Stull Cemetery._ "

"Stull- wait. I know that. That's- that's an old boneyard outside of Lawrence. Why Lawrence?"

" _I don't know. It all has to end where it started, I guess._ "

"You know of any way to short-circuit this thing?"  
" _Besides the rings? No. I'm sorry._ "

"Well, do you have any idea what's gonna happen next?"

" _I wish that I did. But I- I just- I honestly don't know yet._ "

"Alright. Thanks, Chuck." I muttered, hanging up. I turned, making sure everything I needed was in the trunk before I closed it.

"You going someplace?" Bobby asked, he and Cas walking up.

"Yup. I'm gonna go talk to Sam. Get Tori back."

"Dean-"

"What am I supposed to do, huh? Sit around and do nothing?"

"If you couldn't reach Sam here, you're certainly not gonna be able to on the battlefield."

"Well, if we've already lost, I guess I got nothing to lose, right? I need to know Tori is okay."

"Dean, I just want you to understand. She won't be."

"Why not?"

"Because I am almost certain that Michael has her grace. And in the presence of both him and Lucifer, one of them is going to make her take it. And chances are, the only thing you're going to see when you arrive is your brother being killed."

I swallowed hard, processing everything he said with a nod. "Then I'm not gonna let him die alone."

* * *

 **CEMETERY – DAY  
** TPOV

Lucifer's grip on my arm was tight as he brought me with him to a large open filed, old gravestones sticking out of the dead grass. My hands were now cuffed together, _just in case I try to do anything idiotic_ , as he'd said it.

We were standing there for no more than a few seconds when the flutter of wings was heard and Michael appeared a few feet away in Adam's body.

"It's good to see you, Michael." Lucifer nodded.

"You too. It's been too long. If only Camael were here as well." Michael replied. "Can you believe it's finally here?"

"No. Not really."

"Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be. A part of me wishes we didn't have to do this."

"Yeah. Me too." Michael sighed. I scrunched my nose at their relaxed attitudes.

This seemed more like a sappy family reunion than a fist fight.

"Then why are we?" Lucifer asked.

"Oh, you know why! I have no choice, after what you did."

"What I did? What if it's not my fault?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Think about it. Dad made everything. Which means he made me who I am! God wanted the Devil."

"So?"

"So why? And why make us fight? I just can't figure out the point."

"What's your point?"

"We're going to kill each other. And for what? One of Dad's tests. And we don't even know the answer. We're brothers. Let's just walk off the chessboard."

"I'm sorry. I- I can't do that. I'm a good son, and I have my orders."

"But you don't have to follow them."

"What, you think I'm gonna rebel? Now? I'm not like you."

"Please, Michael-"

"You know, you haven't changed a bit, little brother. Always blaming everybody but yourself. We were together. We were happy. But you betrayed me – all of us – and you made our father leave."

"No one makes Dad do anything. He is doing this to us."

"You're a monster, Lucifer. And I have to kill you."

"If that's the way it's got to be...then I'd like to see you try."

"You know what to do." Michael said, nodding to Lucifer's hand on my arm. "Just like Camael chose, she gets to choose."

"Fine." Lucifer dug his nails into my arm once more before pushing me forward. I stumbled, ending up in between the two angels.

"It's your choice." Michael muttered, throwing the box of Camael's grace in front of me. I looked back up, seeing the hard look he sported. "Choose wisely."

"As in, choose me?" I asked, bending down to pick up the box, seeing the look on his face.

"Open it."

"Why don't you?"

"You're the only one who can. Do it. Now." Michael snapped, becoming irritated. I breathed heavily, swallowing hard, my hands shaking around the box.

" _Erm a alonusahi old barinu-_ " With the power I possess… " _Ol alonusahi elasa-_ " I command you-

Just as I was about to say _open_ , the sound of an engine revving caught my attention and I looked behind me, seeing the Impala pull up, Dean getting out. I felt a mixture of relief and fear spread through me. He was here...but... _he was here_.

What are they gonna do to him?

"Howdy, boys. Sorry, am I interrupting something?" Dean asked, looking over to Sam. "Hey, I need to talk to you."

"Dean. Even for you, this is a whole new mountain of stupid." Lucifer spat.

"I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to Sam."

"You're no longer the vessel, Dean." Michael said. "You've got no right to be here."

"Adam, if you're in there somewhere, I am so sorry."

"Adam isn't home right now."

"Well, then you're next on my list, buttercup. But right now, I need five minutes with him." Dean said, pointing over to Sam.

"You little maggot. You are no longer a part of this story!" Michael exclaimed.

"Hey, ass-butt!" Cas called out, appearing behind Dean, Bobby next to him. He held a Molotov in his hand, throwing it past me, at Michael. He screamed, going up in flames.

" _Ass-butt_?" Dean asked, gancing back to Cas with a raised eyebrow.

"He'll be back – and upset – but you got your five minutes." Cas said.

"Castiel...did you just Molotov my brother with holy fire?" Lucifer asked, a deadly look in his eyes.

"Uh... no."

"No one dicks with Michael but me." Lucifer said through gritted teeth, snapping his fingers. The moment he did so, Cas exploded in a rain of blood. I let out a small shriek, looking over to Bobby with scared eyes.

"Sammy, can you hear me?" Dean asked.

"You know, I tried to be nice...for Sammy's sake. But you are such a pain in my ass."

Suddenly, Dean was thrown onto the windshield of the Impala with a flick of Lucifer's wrist, the glass shattering beneath him. As I turned, I saw Bobby holding up his gun, shooting Lucifer, who immediately looked furious – a snap of his hand was all it took to snap Bobby's neck.

"No!" I screamed.

Lucifer grinned. "Yes."

"Don't touch him!" I cried as he stalked towards Dean. Lucifer smiled at me, pulling Dean off the Impala, punching him hard across the face.

Dean fell to the side, spitting blood out of his mouth. "Sammy? Are you in there?"

"Oh, he's in here, alright. And he's gonna feel the snap of your bones-" Lucifer said, punching Dean a few more times. I ran over, pulling Lucifer away. He elbowed me in the stomach, sending me flying, landing in front of the Impala.

My hands began to shake as I watched the scene unfold in front of me. And even though fear filled me, I knew what I had to do. I scrambled across the ground, picking up the box once again. " _Erm a alonusahi old barinu, ol alonusahi elasa-"_

"Every single one." Lucifer conditioned, punching Dean a few more times, his face becoming swollen and covered in blood. "And we're gonna take our time."

"Sam, it's okay. I'm here." Dean murmured. "I'm not gonna leave you."

" _Odo_." I finished this time, the little lock on the side of the box clicking open. I plucked the vial of grace from it's velvet casing, standing up. "Lucifer!"

"Oh, what now-" He paused, seeing the grace in my hands. "Well, my, my, my. I guess I was going about this all wrong way the entire time. Silly me. See, it didn't take you seeing Sammy here massacre random people to scare you. No, it took me hurting _him_. The useless little rat."

Lucifer chuckled darkly, punching Dean again, his head snapping to the side. I flinched, my breathing coming out harh and ragged. "Stop it!"

"Only if you say you'll help me." Lucifer said, hauling Dean to his feet, holding him to the Impala by his collar, looking back at me with an evil grin.

"Tori, no." Dean mumbled through his bloody, swollen lips.

I took a step forward, trying not to drop the vial as my entire body shook. I reached for the cork, grasping it. "A- alright."

"No!"

"Great. Go ahead and knock back that grace, Vicki. Then the fun can really start." Lucifer said, his grin fading as I hesitated. Instantly I was met with the sound of his fist connecting with Dean's face again."Going once-"

He reared back for another punch, his evil eyes darting between myself and Dean...until he blinked, and they changed completely.

"It's okay, Dean. It's gonna be okay." He muttered, lowering Dean gently to the ground.

"Sam?" I called, tears filling my eyes, spilling down my cheeks.

"I've got him." Sam nodded, turning around, pulling out the horseman's rings. " _Bvtmon tabges babalon."_

As the ground began to cave in, I threw the vial of grace to the ground, dropping to my knees next to Dean, his breathing labored.

"Sam! It's not gonna end this way! Step back!" Michael called out, reappearing.

"You're gonna have to make me!"

Michael looked to me. "We have to fight him! Here and now! It's destiny!"

Sam shook his head, glancing back at Dean and I before closing his eyes, spreading his arms to the side. A gust of wind blew as Michael lunged forward, reaching for his jacket, trying to pull him back. Sam grabbed his arms, and they both fell into the hole together. I let out a pained wail, nearly rushing towards the void as it closed in a flash of blinding light.

Dean quickly grabbed my arms, holding me back as he leaned again the side of the Impala, his left eye swollen shut. I calmed down and didn't say another word, resting my head on his shoulder as he breathed heavily. I heard a light flap of wings beside us, looking up to see Cas standing there.

"You're alive?" I asked, my eyes wide.

"I'm better than that." Cas nodded, leaning down to place a hand on Dean's forehead. Immediately his wounds were healed. Dean and I stood to our feet, staying in each other's arms.

"Cas, are you God?" Dean asked, holding onto me tightly.

"That's a nice compliment." Cas muttered, shaking his head. "But no. Although, I do believe he brought me back. New and improved."

We watched as Castiel walked over to Bobby, touching him on the forehead as well, resurrecting him. Bobby looked around, breathing heavily as he took in his surroundings again. Dean and I walked over to the Horsemen's rings, he picked them up off the ground, staring at them. I looked to the ground where a perfect circle of charred grass now sat. I could feel Dean's pain along with my own, the sheer force of it radiating from both of our bodies.

It had happened before, any one of us being brought back to life in one way or another. Maybe God had brought Cas back, I didn't know why he choose to, but I couldn't help but feel like that was the last thing he'd ever do. We wouldn't get Sam back, not this time. He really was gone.

My heart shattered into a million pieces at the very thought. I lost my baby brother...for good.

And there was no angel, no demon, no Devil and certainly, no God, who would change that. Never.

* * *

" _ **Endings are hard. But then again...nothing ever really ends, does it?**_ "

 **This episode always makes me extremely sad. Re-writing it this way made that feeling even worse.**

 **Can you believe** ** _The Forgotten_** **is already finished? I just posted the first chapter at the beginning of 2017! I've never finished a story so quickly.**

 **As always, thank you so, so much for taking the time out of your day to read my stories! I hope you guys liked this one, and I hope you stick around for** ** _Eyes On Fire_** **which will cover season 6! The first chapter isn't written yet, but I'll try to write and post it as soon as I can!**

 **Twitter: phoenixwrites79  
Instagram: phoenixwritesfanfiction (keep checking here to see the cover photo for ****_Eyes On Fire_** **!)**


End file.
